


The Cursed Village

by Jsayra



Series: A Cursed Tale [1]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Drama & Romance, F/M, Minor Violence, Supernatural Elements, etc - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2020-02-16 15:45:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 28
Words: 35,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18694495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jsayra/pseuds/Jsayra
Summary: The supernatural newspaper of Zootopia needs new tales of terror to capture the already old readers and bring new ones.The lack of such tales begins to affect the mammals that work in the newsroom, so that there is no interesting story to be published.To this end, a supposed legend is started to be spoken in the vicinity of Zootopia. Judy Hopps, the writer of the newsroom, sees an opportunity to investigate the legend further and make it a success in the newspaper that's so badly needs.Together with Nicholas Wilde, Jack and Alisha, they set off on an adventure of terror to bring true stories to captivate their readers.Stay to see ^-^





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, everybody. 
> 
> I finished my recent story: "The Lost and The Fear ~ Nick and Judy Feelings" and decided to write a new one in an atmosphere of terror.  
> Since I was 17 years old, I've played the trilogy, going on to five titles for all of the game Fatal Frame (in Japanese) and Project Zero (in English). 
> 
> I had already written other stories, with other characters, surrounded by the game environment that focuses more on the titles 2 and 3, grabbing some details of the 1st and 4th too. Now, I decided to take our heroes on a different and captivating and terrifying journey. 
> 
> Note that they will not be police officers, but a journalist looking for an epic story for the best-selling supernatural newspaper in Zootopia. 
> 
> After that, I hope you enjoy this new adventure, just as I love to write it. 
> 
> I appeal to some misunderstandings between Nick and Judy. Injuries and possible deaths, but NEVER with NICK and JUDY. 
> 
> I love happy endings, but I like to make the readers and our characters suffer a little.
> 
> Well, that's it. ^^

"Explain to me again, whose wonderful idea this was?"

The voice spoke angry and the tone of irony was quite remarkable. Furious, his closed fist went against the rotten wood, breaking it in its attack.

"We had everything to work out!”

Frustrated, she took a deep breath, closing her eyes. Her foot beat at a fast pace, denouncing her bad mood for the whole situation.

"You had everything to work out, as always!”

"Oh, don't blame me, angry gentlemammal. Who had the brilliant idea of coming in this direction? Success, she said. Spare me, Nick!”

"If we hadn't listened to Jack, we wouldn't be in this situation," a kick was laid heavily on poor old wood without guilt.

"He made a mistake; it is a fact. But I haven't heard from you that the main reason we're in this situation is because of your dear Alisha. It was she who had the brilliant idea of separating us, taking away the detail that she lost the map in the middle of the process." Judy checked her mobile phone. No signal. A signal that, since they entered there, had never been connected.  "Damn device" the anger was deposited in the small device that went against the furious ground.

"Not jealous at this hour, please."

"Jealousy?" was the drop of water for Judy to really explode. "I'd rather had jealousy than the anger I feel for her. Vixen, who is always organized, never loses anything, perfect in her coordination and always ready to manage in any situation. You and the others always paint her image to your desires, where it is totally the opposite. She has her gifts, but as for reading maps and getting lost, her skills are surreal. When do you open your eyes and see with eyes that with Alisha in control, only made us turn lost?"

"I think you're exaggerating a bit." Nick was trying to keep control of his voice. "We all make mistakes."

Taking a deep breath and having enormous control so that her paw doesn't meet the fox's snout, she grabbed the camera, put it on her shoulder and strayed from it, following the path to the right. Turning his eyes, Nick sighed and followed her closely. Discussions between the two were frequent, as they were both stubborn and strong opinions, but since they were there it seemed to get worse by the minute.


	2. Cursed One

  The idea was brilliant. It was an idea that would bring new readers and excite the older ones. Being a supernatural newspaper of the region, for some months now that the stories were scarce and ideas for new ones were disappearing. The newsroom would have to find something better and fast, so that they wouldn't be with the regular readers.

"We need captivation. Something to hold the reader in check" blue eyes went through the walls filled with notes.

During the week, clippings had been made of small sightings of ghosts and other beings. Short interviews of something that will happen and even stories invented by some mammals in the newsroom. However, they were not enough, and many were already repeated.

"We already know that. But, what?" Jack drank his quiet coffee, where sometimes a few sighs of frustration were thrown.

"We could see the forest in the Sahara Square area. I heard reports from the mammals living there that it's haunted." Nick proposed but knew it wouldn't help much.

"Only reports are not enough for us. We need something more."

"I could suggest the Cursed Village that everyone is talking about."

From her secretary, Judy reading a small book already old. The three of them looked towards her.

"You know these are just myths," Nick said.

"Nothing better than experimenting. We don't have a good story for the next issue of the month, and we need to captivate the readers. Besides, this cursed village is in the mouth of the world. We can visit it and see if we can get something."

It wasn't a bad idea, it was true. But the problem was the distance from this village just like getting there. A few meters away, in the distant suburbs of Zootopia, in the 17th century, there was a village. This village was very popular for its festivals such as the cultural attraction of the place. Several mammals came from all corners of the Zootopia to visit the small population, which was always received with festivals and affection for its residents. However, without knowing why, the village no longer has its festivals, the mammals stopped going there and the rumors that something very serious happened to such a place, ended up making the village fall into oblivion. From then on, supernatural rumors began to appear and even the disappearance of mammals that ventured into that village was reported. Obvious and, as such, the subject died for a year. Nothing much happened, until recently two cases of two young mammals going there and never coming back. The police intervened and banned entry.

"It will be a lot of work to ask the police for permission to let us in." Jack took the palms of his paws to his exhausted face because of the fatigue.

"I can take care of that if you want," said Judy.

"No. Being the director, I'm going there."

"So, you agree that we should investigate the place?" Nick asked confusingly.

"Yes, Judy is right. This Village is in the mouth of the world and will be a unique opportunity to captivate assiduous readers and call new ones. We will be the only newspaper to report such a thing with evidence."

Nick and Alisha agreed, both diverting from Jack's desk and going each to their own. Judy smiled. It was the first time Jack agreed with her on something without arguing about it like the other times.

During the week, Jack had to wait for police authorization before he could go to the scene. He asked for two days and both have been granted. Nick would be the photographer. Although his task is to write the articles, he preferred the camera this time. Alisha would be the one to guide them. Astute in her orientation, she would be in charge of showing them the way. For the joy of some and for the horrors of Judy, who knew perfectly well that Alisha would make them lose in the blink of an eye. Jack was carrying his camera. He wanted to put an extra video on the Online page and, who knows, capture something interesting in the village. Last but not least, Judy would be the 'rescuer'. Although Alisha had the map, the rabbit had another provisional one. Besides, she would be in charge of writing important information. She would also be in charge of taking pictures. Two was better than just one. Ready, the trip would take two hours and another hour to get up on foot. The van would have to be parked next to the small mountain range that they would have to climb. In times, it would be enough to pass through the main gate and cross the bridge. But due to climate change, the main entrance no longer existed, and they would have to go by other alternative routes.

Along the way, Judy remained her violet eyes fixed on the landscape. Jack kept quiet and concentrated on the dirt road in front of him. Already Nick looked like a drooling fox while talking to Alisha. Being a Vixen, she was all white-haired and had crushing blue crystals in her eyes, her beautiful curves and her perfect glass were not indifferent to a male fox or to any mammal she passed by. However, it was known that Nick had feelings for her, and she had feelings for him. If it was only the feelings, Judy did not know, but that that foxy frilly expression in love ruined her good mood.

_If you had fallen in love with another mammal, you wouldn't have been like that._

She repeated to her mind over and over again.  At various times she tried to shut up her feelings by trying, in vain, to have something with Jack, the rabbit that also steals hearts. Two dates that were a failure since he felt something for Alisha and not for her.

"We're here!”

Her thoughts were removed to reality, as Jack stopped the van and shut down the engine. Without any delay, Judy opened the door and closed it behind her. She was impressed by the beauty of the forest but mocked her snout when she noticed that the 'supposed' way up to the village would be a difficult task.

"I hate forests," twisting her snout to the beauty in nature, Alisha put on an ugly expression when she noticed the path they would have to climb.

Meanwhile, Nick and Jack took two backpacks out of the van, delivering the other two to the females. Since they would have to spend two days there, they wouldn't have to sleep in the open and on an empty stomach.

"The cops will come the day after tomorrow to us," said Jack, closing the door. "They want to make sure that we hand over the keys to the front door and that we really get out of here.”

Surrounding the van, the four began to climb the dirt track until it was possible to see the main door that would lead to the cursed village.

**_To be continued…_ **


	3. Cursed Two

"Damn nature"

The whole long way up, was done with some difficulty. Care was required every minute as well as some muffled swearwords between teeth when the peak was almost reached and undone as soon as a badly put foot in the wrong place, brought down a few meters that were not wanted. But the worst of it all, was Alisha's constant whining. From the beginning to the halfway point, the words spelled out of a frustration already closed, began to mess with Judy's judgment and....it was no small thing. For several times, her mind made a point of formulating insulting words to that female who never stopped whining but decided for good not to do it. If she did, she would start arguing with a fox who was a good defender of his precious Vixen.

"The door. I can see it."

Jack had reached the peak of the 'little mountain'. Passing his arm over his forehead to wipe away the sweat of effort, the smile on his face showed a small victory. Followed by him, Judy was the second to catch up with him, followed by Nick and Alisha soon after.

"We have a problem," warned Judy, when her violet eyes noticed something that shouldn't be there.

Grey eyes went toward the little rabbit who, with her arm stretched out, was pointing in front of her. Confused, he continued to look at where she was pointing and, the smile of victory, gave way to a few tight lips in frustration.

The bridge that allowed the only passage to the great door, had been destroyed. They could have jumped if not for the enormous distance and a fall to death on the pointed rocks.

“Where then?" Jack said frustrated. The suitcases were already heavy and having to go around the pointy rocks, would only make them lose precious minutes and that was not in their plans.

"There!”

Nick's voice startled the two rabbits. On the left side of the bridge, a few meters away, there was a narrow dirt track that would give them a safer passage. Triumphant in his discovery, he smiled at Judy, who stared at him with closed eyebrows. Anything, he used to make fun of her.

Without delay, they went around the bridge and found their way. Being this narrow, it only allowed them to go in line and not side-by-side. When they reached the giant wooden door and an eroded crimson, Jack took the key out of the pocket, the policeman had given him, and approached the door he grabs the big black lock. The key was inserted into the slot, and when it was turned, the unlocked 'click' was heard.

"Nick, help me push it!"

Four paws were put on the door. The effort was required, and the double force was not very powerful. The door opened, yes, with a deafening squeaking due to the wear and tear of time, but the passage had to be made sideways and the bags followed later. That was all they could open.

On the other side, nothing new. The same dirt track would give a good meter until there is the main entrance of the village. Around, nothing more than vegetation of various shades and sizes.

"Whose idea was for came here?”

Furious blue eyes met violet eyes with arched eyebrows. With her paws over her waist, Alisha was frustrated at having to walk more meters to reach the damn village. Judy, the rope that held her patience in place, was about to break. She preferred to ignore it once again, turning her back and being the first to start the way. But if that Vixen opened her mouth again to talk nonsense, Judy wouldn't hold back and if her paw was out of date with that idiot's beautiful face, it wouldn't be much.

Silence was on the way. Everyone in their thoughts. However, when they almost reached the main entrance to the village, Judy suddenly stopped. Her eyes blinked several times in order to understand what was reflected in them.

_"Give her to me!”_

The voice was as deep as an echo sounded. The hoarseness was noticeable, but what made the most shivering was the image. A wolf, all white. In her elegant body, a kimono. A kimono that was stained with...blood.

"Give...who?"

Her body stayed paralyzed before the image in front of her. But there was no fear, no heart beating, no urgency to run away. Judy was curious. A strange curiosity to want to ask that mysterious wolf more questions. Apart from curiosity, there was another feeling that she could not decipher.

_"You know who I'm talking about."_

"Judy?"

Nick's voice brought her back to reality. He had bumped into her for suddenly stopping. Something Judy didn't even notice.

"Yes?" she answered him, staring at him.

"Is everything all right?" the concern was evident in his expression, as was the confusion.

“Yes" She lied and forced a smile.

She could tell what had just happened. But possibly Nick would make it a joke, Alisha would think she was crazy, and Jack would ignore it in order to continue what they were going to do there, so as not to waste precious time. Would it be a good story for the newspaper? It would be, but not at that moment since they hadn't even entered the village yet. Judy chose to keep quiet and keep going until they entered the village.

**_To be Continued…_ **


	4. Cursed Three

"There's one thing I don't understand!" Alisha spoke, catching her breath when she reached the top of the main entrance to the village.

"There's so much you don't understand," she could have kept quiet, it was the wisest thing to do. But her mouth moved against her will and the words in her mind left without control.

Furious blue eyes went towards Judy who simply shrugged her disinterested shoulders to the 'fire' expression of vixen. Ignoring it, she spoke again. This time, pointing her finger at a big fire on her right side. Surrounded by this bonfire, well-organized gifts formed a circle wrapped around the fire. In addition, four well-placed wooden stakes supported a white wrapped ribbon.

"Can you explain to me why it was lit?”

There really was no explanation. The fire shone high as it had been lit a few minutes ago. The trunks that gave the food, did not look burnt. The white ribbon showed no dirt or wear and tear over time. Strange. Really strange. No one answered it, because there was no logical answer for such an event. However, Judy moved away from her colleagues and began to approach the fire. Once again, fear was far away, and curiosity burned inside her. She felt like a child with so much that she wanted to discover.

"What do you think you're doing?”

A paw on her shoulder, prevented her from continuing. She turned her head sideways to face the fox.

"To discover the reason for this mystery."

"How about you put that curiosity aside a little bit and let's get on with what we really..." Nick stressed the word "...we're here to do?!"

"It will be a good story to write" was the only thing she answered before she shook him off her shoulders and continued on her way to the fire, leaving a Nick perplexed where the concern for his colleague's safety had been at stake ever since they arrived in that village.

Judy stopped inches from the fire. The fire, such a dangerous element, at that moment was a fascinating thing. The unnatural glow of the flames gave a great warmth in her heart.

_"Touch it!”_

Again, the same voice. The voice that had spoken to her when she almost reached the entrance to the village.

"But..." her mind answered her.

 _"Touch it!"_  insisted the same voice.

Hesitant, Judy raised her paw to her abdomen. Closing it, she still hesitated a few moments before she started stretching her arm to the fire. At that very moment, Nick, seemingly guessing what was going to happen, he ran to her, trying to stop her, but he didn't go in time.

 

**_ooOOOoo_ **

The high sun on the plain made the birds chirp a beautiful sound. The clear river flowed smoothly over the small rocks, where small fish swimming calmly. A field full of flowers of all shades, it was a sweet and soothing aroma. The grass was bright green.

"Where?"

Nick looked in all directions, confused. It seemed as if he had entered another...Dimension. Next to him, Judy had the same confused expression.

Laughing in the distance, that made the two mammals look in the same direction. Two female wolves, both twins, with a magnificent white Kimono, ran with their paws cheerfully given near the river. By Nick and Judy's calculations, they were not to be more than fifteen years old. The joy on the twins' faces was contagious. Passing through the grass, they raised their kimonos to their knees and went into the river, playing with the water. Near them, a male of the same age and race, his fur being all black and red eyes. Beautiful, Judy had to admit. He had joined them in the river.

"Who?" Nick spoke again. He wanted to slap himself to wake up, but he knew he wasn't in a dream.

"I saw one of the wolves.” Judy finally spoke.

"How?” Nick stared at her

"When we arrived, there was one on the entrance to the village. But..."

Suddenly a pain in her chest made Judy take her paws to the place and kneel down. Alarmed, Nick put his paws on her shoulders and questioned her if she was all right. The pain was so great that the tears began to flow down her cheeks.

"Carrots... Carrots..."

That's when his heart stopped beating. Blood. There was blood on Judy's paws and between her breasts. Alarmed, he diverted her paws from the place. He opened the buttons off her blouse and the shock went down hard when.... Everything went dark.

****_ooOOOoo  
  
_

"NICK...!"

Alisha's cries of despair and the crying made Nick slowly open his eyes. The distressed tears on Vixen's face was the image he received, and soon after, a strong hug when Alisha saw that the fox had awakened. Nick returned the hug, but then remembered.

"Judy?”

Releasing himself, he searched for her and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her sitting on her back against a rock with her eyes open. Jack was standing next to her. At that moment, he was looking for a bottle of water to give her. Without delay, he got up and approached the rabbit, kneeling before her. His emerald green eyes went to find the blood, but there was…Nothing.

"I'm fine!"

She smiled at him, but it was remarkable in her eyes how shaken she was feeling.

"Take it!” Jack passed her the bottle and she drank a little.

"Now, can you please explain to me what happened?"

His gaze denounced quick answers. And by Nick's reckoning, the vision they had when they both stayed in a different world must have been scary.

"Can we leave the explanations until later?" was Alisha's request. "We will continue what we were doing. Notice, that they are super shaken and certainly don't want to talk right away.”

Jack twisted his nose but agreed. Closing the backpack, he put it on his back and stood up. They would talk when they set up the camp later.

Alisha took a deep breath and turned her back on the two colleagues, removing the map inside the backpack and opening it in front of her. It was confusing. Quite confusing, but she would know the most significant points that they would have to go, since during the week she did not stop from one side to the other searching for information that could be relevant to her research, and of this, she marked with a red marker the appearances that the mammals had told her what they saw.

"The wound?”

Alone, Nick's gaze was painful, so much so that Judy couldn't face it.

"None.”

A sigh of relief came from the fox's lips.

"It won't be the last time, will it?"

Judy shook her head. She had the feeling that it would be worse as they advanced in their search for more information. In addition, the pain she felt mixed with a feeling well known to her. Love. Burning passion for one of those female wolves. But which one? What about that wolf? She somehow felt that she knew him very well but had never seen him before in her life. Everything was strange, very strange and now thinking about what had happened, would only confuse her even more. Possibly, as they went further into the village, she could find answers. If they were good, she had the feeling that she would suffer even more from them, but she had to know. She had to know what was going on with her and Nick.

**_To be continued…_ **


	5. Cursed Four

After that "accident" at the entrance of the village, the four decided to move on. After some time to recover from the shaky events, Alisha indicated that: if they moved on, they would enter the village. Two houses would be the first of many that they would find, and these first two were the houses of the guardians, security guards, currently.

"How about a kick?”

As you know, Alisha's patience was very short. For more than five minutes Jack had been trying to open the door of the house on his left, since the one on the right was out of the question. Although the years passed, wood was the only thing that had some details of wear and tear, and once again the strangeness gave way, the door was pretty sure not to want to open.

"How could this damn door be intact?" between teeth, Jack had also lost his patience.

Out of breath, the strategies he went through to try to open the door failed miserably. The kick wasn't bad thinking. Walking a little further away, Jack raised his leg and, with all his might, kicked the door. A big dust was formed, but the door was still intact.

"Unbelieving!” he tried again and again and gave up on the third attempt, otherwise he would break his leg. "This is impossible!" he shouted in frustration, banging his fists closed on the damn door.

"We'll have to see another way in!" Nick proposed, looking around.

"Or can we move on and see somewhere else?" contradicts Judy

"According to reports, this house holds something important. What? I do not know, but all the people I asked, warned that they had seen something here. So, I don't think we should go ahead without first inspecting." Alisha had a point of view, but Judy still twisted her nose at those words.

"We can try to get in there!” Nick spoke. His arm stretched to his left side, pointing to a broken window. And since they were small mammals, there would be no problem passing through there.

The first to do the honors of the house was Jack. Already furious that he didn't have any way of getting through the door, he first wanted to find out what was stranding her. Alisha followed soon after. With Jack's help, she got in without a problem. Nick didn't take long to follow her, but it was Judy who kept her foot in the back. Without knowing how to explain it, her fur shivered.

"Carrots?”

With her eyebrow arched, Nick looked at her confused. She wasn't staring at him, but he noticed fear in her purple gaze and the glowing glow disappeared.

"Carrots?" with a firmer voice, he called her again. Now, yes, he already had her attention on him. "Let's go!” he stretched out his paw, giving her permission to grab him. Without hesitating any longer, she went ahead, and he helped her in.

Once inside, the darkness welcomed them. There was a small light, strangely, inside a small, old candelabra on a small dark wooden table in a corner from wherever they were.

"The flashlights." asked Jack, turning to Nick.

Removing the backpack, the fox removed four lanterns, delivering one each.

"This is...."

With her mouth open, the admiration in Alisha's eyes was understandable. When she lit the flashlight, the atmosphere in which they found themselves was nothing more than a small collection of dresses. It was supposed to belong to a female closet, because the things they had there were totally feminine and...in good condition.

"I'm sure the breakfast we ate should have drugs.” Jack began to say "How, but how is all this possible, after so many years, CENTURES, still in a considerable preserved state?”

"If you admire this, I don't even want to imagine when I tell you what I saw." Nick took the floor, passing by.

Ignoring the furniture, the dresses, the screens, the candlesticks and whatever should be undone, he went to a small door. It was small, on which he had to crouch to open it. The effort was not necessary, because the door opened without any problem. Passing through it was a bit difficult, but it was possible.

"Come on," he called his friends who followed him closely.

A Hall was what they found. A Hall with a pit in the middle, straw scattered all over the place and a small clearing to make the fire for cooking. A staircase on the left side gave access to the upper floor. A small step descended into a corridor that was still a few meters long. Beyond the corridor, it was impossible to see, since a curtain filled with blue shades of wear and some tears, did not let them see what was on the other side.

"Did we really end up in a very primary century?" Alisha was incredulous. And the thing that most disturbed her incredulity was the damn well in the middle of a house.

"No. In the old days, it was common for wells like this in this kind of village." Judy answered her. She liked history, so the well didn't alarm her much.

"Interesting!" dryly, Alisha replied with a twist of her eyes.

"What did you find out from the mammals reports about this house?" Jack turned his attention to her.

"They are the houses of the village guardians. There's nothing to it. However, guardian houses used to keep relics and stories as diaries of the daily life of the village. We won't have a terrifying story here, but possibly more information hidden somewhere."

For the first time, Judy appreciated Vixen's intelligence.

"I'll check the first floor." Jack took the words.

"I'll go with you." Nick said and approached Jack.

"If you don't mind, I'd rather see what's behind that curtain." Judy spoke, pointing to the corridor ahead of her.

The answer was a positive nod. Alisha, as was supposed to, wherever Nick went, she would go after him.

The three mammals climbed the wooden stair to their left. Judy climbed down the small step and, pulling the curtains to the side, she entered the corridor. To her surprise, this one still had a big greeting. A few steps were taken for two other small corridors, which she confirmed that had two doors. There is another small corridor in front of her. This one, however, was a little bigger, in which Judy walked a little until she found a door on her right side. Without delay, she put her paw on the doorknob and turned it. There was no problem in opening it. The darkness received her warmly. Entering and closing the door behind her, the flashlight was pointed in all directions. She was in a room. Walking a little, passing the small biombo on her left side that separated the entrance, she climbed the small three steps. There, the moonlight brightened the small room. In front of her was a small garden. In it, a snail staircase would give access to perhaps.... An attic?

Judy pointed the flashlight at the small table in front of her. Two notebooks, already worn out by time, are still there. Some pages were missing, but the first pages were intact. Getting closer, Judy knelt. With one of her paws, she began to leaf through the notebook.

 _"I came looking for him. When he told me that he would come to investigate the events in the village, I did not think much about it. After all, his work required him to do so. In the first few days I still received information from him, but then I heard nothing more…”_  the other two pages were impossible to understand. Judy passed further ahead where writing was already noticeable.  _"Andrew... I finally got to this village you told me about. I haven't heard from you in two weeks. I won't tell you that it was easy to convince the police by letting me come, but I had to know what happened to you, my love. Nights of bad sleep, looking at the cell phone, waiting to hear from you, they made my despair bring me here..."_  again, the words became difficult to read. The confusion became even more acute in the poor bunny. The notebook was old, it should have been 100 years old. How could such modern words be possible? Once again, Judy went through the most pages and couldn't find anything else.

Closing the notebook and straightening herself out, she did not win the fright when the closet door on her left, began to open. Pointing the flashlight in the direction of what happened, her heart stopped when something was coming out of there.

**_To be continued…_ **


	6. Cursed Five

Upstairs, Nick's mind was busy worrying about Judy. He didn't want to leave her alone in the unknown, but if he insisted on her, he'd get tired of hearing:  _'I'll be fine. I know how to get my own way.'_

"At least this door didn't give us any trouble." Alisha had a smile from ear to ear for not wasting unnecessary time on another damn door.

The darkness welcomed them and the light from the three lanterns was not enough to light up the room they had entered, since it was divided into three rooms.

"I think everyone should see a room." suggested Jack, settling into the first room they had entered.

"I'll move on to the last one," Nick said.

Twisting her nose, Alisha agreed to investigate the second alone.

The old things were what they found. There wasn't much value in the things there. Only

Alisha was the one who had discovered something valuable. The kimonos were in very good condition and of various shapes, when she found a large dresser in front of her.

Meanwhile, on the ground floor, the flashlight on Judy's paws was shaking. Her heart was racing, wanting at any moment to come out of her chest. Her breathing filled her chest at a dangerous rate.

_"Where are you?"_

The hoarse and deep voice was very different from what Judy had heard. And, really scary.

"Who?”

She wanted to run away. Her adrenaline was telling her to run away, but her body was paralyzed by fear. Fear, which she did not take away when the other voice spoke, but that voice was very different.

_"I looked for you all over the village..."._

As the voice spoke, something strange began to move in the darkness. A discolored and deformed paw took hold of the door, sticking its claws in the wood door.

 _Judy, run away._   _This is not good._  She told her mind to act, but her body did not react.

_"They told me I would find you here again, my love."_

It was no longer only the paw that was beginning to be visible. A disfigured face, unrecognizable to know which species it was, began to reveal itself.

_ Damn, Judy, run away! _

_"It was you who stole it from me. You, who took the love of my life from me!"_

Now, an evil smile has revealed itself on a demonic face. Eyes lifeless, they were wide open. The whole iris was black. It was really a vision of hell.

"I..." Once again, fear responded to that monstrous being and her body refused to move.

_"You gave him to Yae, to save her soul. You gave my Andrew for your personal good. So that you could save the person you love the most."_

Words that Judy didn't understand. Words that caused her even more curiosity and confusion at the same time. Words that she, without knowing why, made sense to her. But she had to run away. That creature from hell was already totally out of the closet. Her body, or rather, her torso, dragged itself along with the help of her claws. On this path, the blood left a trail. The distance between her and that creature was getting shorter and shorter. This creature, which Judy realized to be the female who had written the words in the notebook she had read before and who had been stuck in this village. Her death must have been very...violent.

_"Now it is your turn to rest. As soon as the ritual is over, you can say goodbye to the one you love. To the mammal that possesses the soul of your beloved, Natsuhiko."_

And without delay the creature raised a foot and managed to scratch Judy's leg. The pain was tremendous, and from her lips, a cry of pain echoed over the house.

               Upstairs, Nick was crouching in front of a small closet. Nothing there seemed interesting to him. When, through the corner of his left eye, he glimpsed something that caught his attention. A small old camera. Without delay, he approached the small device and began to examine it.

 _Interesting._  He thought to himself when a well-known scream echoed over the house.

Alarmed, he stood up and put the camera on a shoulder strap, since it had a strap that could be placed on his shoulder or neck.

"What was that?" asked Alisha, scared.

"Judy!”

Shouted, Nick running towards the door and opening it. He went down the stairs and entered the hallway, where he suddenly stopped.

“CARROTS!" He shouted in order to know where she was.

"NICK!”

To the sound of her voice, made he ran, followed the direction of the sound. However, inside the room, Judy had finally managed to move and run towards the door, but after several attempts to open it, it wouldn't open.

"Nick, here!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

The creature, that one, was crawling on the ground behind her.

_"You've ruined my life. I'll ruin yours."_

"Please, I don't understand what you're talking about." she replied, while now she was banging her fists hard on the door. "Nick, please!"

On the other side, Nick had reached the door. He, too, was trying to open the doorknob unsuccessfully.

"Carrots."  _Fucking door!_  He thought.

"Nick?" Alisha called him worried. Jack was coming with her.

"The door won't open! DAMN!” and slammed his fist into the wood hard.

Jack came up to him. "Get away!" he asked and, going a little further away, tried with his foot to knock the door down.

Inside, Judy's desperate attempt was running out of strength. The leg wound was bleeding and did not help her affliction. Meanwhile, the creature was getting closer and closer to her. So much so that when she reached her, she put her claws on the wood of the door and began to climb it, standing face to face, snout to snout, with the rabbit.

_"Yae will want her sister's soul to finish the ritual. This is the only way things will go back to the way they were."_

"Yae? Who is Yae?"

_"She's the one who will kill the most important mammal in your life!"_

Suddenly, the door slams and Judy fall backwards with it. Still scared, it took her a few seconds to recognize that the creature had disappeared and was in the company of her friends.

"Carrots!” Nick knelt before the little one and he hugged her tightly without delay.

"You're bleeding!" alarmed, Alisha said, not caring about that moment of affection between the two of them.

Still trembling, Judy let go of her embrace and turned her violet eyes towards the darkness. None of that female.

"Where did you get that wound?" Anger took hold of him, as he saw Judy wounded with gravity.

"I..." the words feared her.

"We'd better go to the hall. We'll be able to treat that wound of yours there." Jack suggested, turning his back and starting the way back. Alisha followed him seconds later.

Nick held her friend's arm, helping her up. His body would be the support for Judy to make the slightest effort to put the wounded leg on the floor, preventing her from bleeding anymore.

"You will explain to me all the details of what add happened."

Judy simply nodded her head. Her gaze, this one, remained on the ground. The words of that female stirred with her consciousness. What did she mean by that? Natsuhiko? Who was he? Yae, was it one of the twins she had seen? So many questions without a concrete answer. But the worst word she had heard was the ritual. Rituals in the last century were made by sacrificing lives. Unbelievable beliefs in today's ears were indispensable to ancient ears. Without sacrifice, things did not move. And rituals were always made to sacrifice lives. Judy needed answers and quick answers. After all, that female had said something important. The life of the mammal she loved most was at stake.

**_To be continued…_ **


	7. Cursed Six

Alisha was kind enough to extend her long coat on the floor, thus giving Judy a clean seat. Nick removed the suitcase he had on his back and opened it. The emergency kit was removed.

Still visibly shaking, Judy was trying to figure out what had happened. That ghost or creature, so horrendous and frightening, really made her afraid. An overwhelming fear never felt before. Again, the words that were spoken to her. Yae? Was she really one of the twins? And who was Natsuhiko? Was it the wolf who was with them? No, there was something else, something else...

"Ouch!”

The tears came in force to fill her eyes. The pain was immense.

"Hang on!" asked Nick, who after cleaning the wound with alcohol and a dressing, was now trying to unroll the bandage to put around the wound. "How?" he questioned, but didn't face her, remaining focused on what he was doing.

"I found a notebook on a small table.”

"That's not what I meant."

"If you want to know what happened, you have to know from the beginning." Judy bowed her eyebrows in an angry expression, causing Nick to turn his eyes in an angry tone, but shut up so that Judy could continue the conversation. Meanwhile, Alisha and Jack listened attentively to everything that had happened.

Minutes later, silence was the answer to everything Judy had just told. In those minutes, Nick had finished putting the bandage around the wound and tidying up the emergency kit back in his backpack.

"You guys don't believe me, do you?"

"It's a little hard to believe, to be honest with you."  Alisha responded by passing a paw over her fur in order to make her frustration go away.

"I'm not asking you to believe me. I ask you to bear in mind that we are not alone."

"We'd better get going." Jack said, "We can't stay here all the time. We have a lot to investigate before the scheduled time to hand over the key to the police.”

Taking the backpack, he put it on his back and started to walk around the same place they came in. Alisha did the same. She was tired of being locked in there and needs fresh air.

"Nick?”

With a trembling voice, she stared at the fox. The one who had listened to the story very carefully. And who could see the concern on her face. Something that made Judy relieved to know that he would believe her.

"I just don't understand one thing?"

"What?”

"Why only us?”

He had a good point. Ever since they entered the village, both she and he were the only ones who could see and hear things. Already Alisha and Jack had no idea what was going on, and Judy knew that deep down, the two of them were beginning to think that both she and Nick were going crazy.

"Let's go. We need answers."

Nick stood up and stretched his paw to help Judy. She accepted without complaining and the two of them left the house.

Once outside, without any explainable reason, time changed radically. The thunder could be heard from afar and the big thick, dark clouds would soon begin to unload.

"We need to be quick!" demanded Jack with his patience almost exhausted.

"A path is divided on two sides. Following the path on the left, further ahead there would be another path to the right.”

With the map stretched out in front of her, Alisha spoke as her paw's fingers ran through the drawings.

"We'll have to split up," Judy suggested.

"What happened to you?" Jack faced her with an angry face. "We'd better stick together."

"It'll just waste us more time," Judy insisted. "Besides, we have the walkie-talkie with us. Something, we communicate around".

Arguing with her would be a waste of time. Besides, she had a certain reason.

"And the map?" asked Alisha.

"No problem" said Judy, showing her cell phone.

"Okay. How long?" Alisha rolled her eyes.

"To meet here." Judy pointed to an image where it was a rock and two butterflies were drawn. "It's the center of the road. After an hour. Deal?"

Jack and Alisha agreed positively with the head.

Alisha, as always, will be pouting. Nick insisted on going with Judy instead of her and that was already letting the vixen get its fur eroded. Ever since they entered the village, Nick was more concerned about the rabbit than about her.

"That sullen face won't make Nick like you!" Jack said, when the four had already separated.

"There's something between the two of them, I know it!"

"You see things where they don't exist." Jack rolled his eyes.

"Why is it that only they see things?"

"I don't know and I'm not very curious to see them either."

"But I do. Argh!"

Shaking his head, Jack paid attention to the path in front of him. Around them was only home, and they were destroyed by time. Nothing very interesting at that moment.

On the other side, Judy's ears were on alert at any sound. They had already crossed the path that was dividing to their right side and in there, was a small stone with the butterflies engraved on it.

"Do you mind letting go of that thing and walking faster?" With her hands on her waist, Judy's patience was end.

"Calm down, carrots. You can't imagine what a relic this camera is."

On his paws, the small camera turned from side to side. Ancient, different from today's digital, but entirely fascinating. Without delay, Nick took the lens to his eye and shot it.

"Nicholas Wilde!!" frustrated, Judy arched her eyebrows. She hated taking pictures.

"Relax, baby. Look. It still works after so many years!"

Playing with the situation, Nick took the photo out of the front of the camera. Shaking this one, the darkness disappeared, starting to give way to the image. It was then that the fox's expression, in a good mood, changed drastically.

"Nick, what is it?"

Worried to see the sudden change, Judy approached him and looked at the photo. Behind her image, the twins were visible.

"How?”

Her violet gaze met the emerald green gaze in confusion. Checking the image again, and in more detail, the wolf was also with them.

"Carrots?”

"Let's go! We'll go that way. Maybe we'll find answers," said Judy, stretching her arm to her left side.

Without delay, Nick put the camera away, but this time inside the backpack, and followed Judy around.  
  


**_To be continued…_ **


	8. Some Notes ~ Please Read Them ~

Hello Guys   
  
Well, I kinda wanted to show you some of my view point on certain thing when i wrote my story: "The Cursed Village".  
  
Obviously, I will change the human aspect to mammal aspect, but i wanted you guys imagine like i do see in my mind when I'm writing.   
  
So, i will upload some images of the ghost that appears in the Fatal Frame 2/Project Zero 2 Game. 

  
  
[](https://sta.sh/0r41a2i37z3)[](https://sta.sh/0y09ukvfvwr)  
  
The Camara aspect that I refer on the story is like this:  
  
  
[](https://sta.sh/0bqerxfu3kl)   
  
And When Nick or Judy see through the objective is like this:  
  
  
  
[](https://sta.sh/0sqq0d44g0o)  
  
So, with this, I hope you guys can see my point of view.  
  
See you soon 


	9. Cursed Seven

_A river?_

Judy wondered. After turning in the house to her right, she found a river flowing calmly in front of her. A river that was...familiar to her.

"Carrots?”

He calls of her name in astonishment. Both looked at each other with a confusing expression.

On the other side, Alisha was sitting on a staircase in one of the thousand doors that the cursed village had. With her arms crossed, her patience had exploded.

"You don’t help by standing there?" Jack said. His attention was stuck on a rock with two drawn butterflies. With his paw, he was dusting the scriptures on it. Unable to decipher the old dialect, he decided to take a picture to show Judy later.

"And what do you want me to do?" With an angry sigh, she nervously shuffled her arms. "Every holy village is made up of houses and more houses. No door opens and we've come to a dead end!"

In fact, she was right, and Jack had to consider it, but in that village, as far as he had realized, there would be hidden things that could be clues to them.

"Stayed sitting and furious won't help at all. Look for different things. That would help a lot."

After the photo, Jack put his phone back in his pocket and got up.

"You can start by knocking with the doors. But as always, that won't help at all." In another long sigh, she stood up and shrugged her shoulders. "Let's go then. Staying here won't help at all, right?"

Jack smiled at her and the two of them continued to look for more clues.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Judy had been just an inch from the river. Clear and crystalline, the calm he was transmitting was an analgesic to her fast-paced heart.

"Let's go that way!”

Nick glimpsed a small bridge that would lead to the other side. Although there was only forest in front of them, there was a small dirt road that would give access to some stairs. The fox began to advance across the bridge and Judy, straying from the river, followed him closely. The thunderstorm in the distance was coming and the clouds, despite being loaded, seemed not to want rain. In the middle of the bridge, silence accompanied them. The noise of the thunder and the river was a melody to their ears. In the middle of the crossing, Judy decided to approach the wooden parapet. Laying her paw on it, her violet eyes met the crystal-clear water again. When, something caught her attention. Confused, she turned her attention back to Nick in front of her who walked relaxed and looked back at the water.

_Who?_

The image reflected was not his, but one of the twins.

_How?_

Confusion seized her. Her heart began to accelerate again. When, suddenly, her name is shouted, and she feels herself being pulled by one of her feet. Her fingernails were reminiscent on the wood from the bridge, preventing that which pulled her, continued to do so. Meanwhile, Nick ran to her. He managed to grab one of Judy's paws and tried to pull her to himself, but in vain. The supernatural force that pulled her was far from his normal force.

"NICK!”

Her paws were already bleeding from the despair of being pushed. In addition, her chest as well as her belly already hurt. The scraping of the wood had certainly wounded her, again.

From afar, and desperate, Nick looked for something that might be useful to help his friend. But nothing at his side would have the effect he was looking for. When suddenly, as if someone whispered in his ear, he remembered the camera. Quickly, he took the backpack out in front of him and opened the clasp. He removed the camera and laid the backpack on the ground beside him. With the camera elevated, the lens went towards his eye, but... _what now? Why would that camera do anything?_  His body seemed to move against his will, and his unconscious indicated that that camera would be the solution to save his friend.

_"Shoot the ghost. The machine will help you in these moments!"_

Confused, that voice was no stranger to him. He still searched where it came from, but his focus to find out had been lost and focused on pointing the lens in front of him. On the lens, he tried to position it on the creature that, incredible as it may seem, the living eye was not visible, but as soon as the lens found it, it automatically focused on...Nick's heart wanted to come out through his chest. If that was a ghost, it would be very nice to say that word. What the lens focused on was a terribly...scary creature. Tall, naked trunk. At the waist, a kind of dark brown leather skirt to the feet. There were chains. Chains, these, wrapped around the creature's wrists. There were no ears, possibly cut off, but a bandage wrapped around the head. The snout was not intact, and the chin would have been torn off, leaving only the nose. Besides, the creature was blind. Instead of the eyes, there were black holes. The blood that flowed like tears was lived. It was really a vision of hell.

_"What do you expect? SHOOT!”_

The voice begged and Nick pressed the button on the side of the machine. With that, the whole creature twisted and disappeared.

Fascinated, Nick lowered the camera keeping it in front of him. After all, this could come in handy! Fascinated, his joy did not last long when his eyes ran into the fainting figure, lying on her back on the bridge.

Judy's eyes were filled with tears. Both her paws pressed into her left belly. She tilted her head a little and lifted her paws a little. Blood.

"No!" she said between her teeth. The previous wounds had been bleeding again with the effort.

"Carrots!”

Nick screamed and knelt before his friend. Seeing the situation, the fist of his paw went against the wood with force.

"Nick..." Judy tried to reassure him, taking one of her paws to his paw, but the anger didn't lessen.

"If I had been quicker to react..."

"It wasn't your fault!" on Judy's lips, a smile was outlined on her face. "You couldn't have foreseen such a thing."

"I was too slow to help you." The tears in his emerald eyes were being contained.

"But you did it, and..."

"The camera!" He put it in front of her. "Apparently it’s sees what we can't see.” He put the camera back on the ground: "A voice said to shoot, and I shot.”

"Maybe it was one of the twins.” The bunny's violet eyes met the gray sky.

"I don't understand."

"I didn't understand at first and believe it's still too confusing for me, but in a way, I think these twins and the male are helping us."

Nick kept his mouth shut for a while. "You're bleeding again."

"This will pass."

"Carrots, we'll have to see how they are. If you leave, you will succumb to fever." He was right, "Let's cross the bridge and on the stairs, we’ll see that wound.”

Nick took one of Judy's paws and helped her up. The straightening of her body gave her a groan of pain, but she supported her arm behind her friend's neck and the two of them, after Nick picked up the backpack and the camera, they crossed the bridge to the other side. Passing the small dirt road, he landed the small bunny on the stairs and asked her to remove the sweater to see how serious the situation was.

 

**_To be continued…_ **


	10. Cursed Eight

~ There's a melody in this chapter that Judy hates. I'm going to leave the link to the melody that you feel for what Judy and Nick are hearing right now.~ 

 

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsafdGXBefI&list=PLBCA60C3A46BF4554&index=3](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsafdGXBefI&list=PLBCA60C3A46BF4554&index=3)

  
  
**oooOOOooo**  


Lifting her sweater wasn't easy. While Nick removed the first aid kit from his backpack, Judy lifted the top. The blood was clearly visible on the bandages. From the kit, Nick removed the scissors and asked her to turn her back on him. The bandage had been secured with duct tape and, to avoid further pain, the scissors would be needed. After cutting the tape, the painful uncoiling of the bandage made Judy close her eyes tightly. When the entire bandage was removed, Nick's already very high fury, fired at an unidentified level on the normal scale. Silence fell on both. Nick disinfected the wounds and put the bandage back around them. If they continued like this, he would lose her. After he was finished, Nick put the first aid kit back in his backpack and Judy put back down the top.

“We have to leave this village and fast!" The fox's voice was steady. Already on his feet, he stretched his paw to help Judy get up. "I guess our story will have to wait a while."

"We'll lose readers."

"I fucking don’t care about the readers now. One more tug or fall and you die!"

Shocked, Judy blinked several times at the fox's angry reaction. It was the first time she saw him lose his temper in those extreme. But, in a long sigh, he was right. The newspaper could wait. Her health came first.

"We will go back. I'll alert Alisha and Jack."

Judy took one of her paws to the walkie-talkie in her belt buckle. She removed the device, synchronized it and, by clicking a button next to it, brought it closer to her snout.

"Alisha, Jack, I communicate!”

On the other side there was no answer. Judy insisted again and again. The silence was the answer.

"Damn!" replied Nick, pawing over his head in frustration.

Judy tried again and again, but the answer remained silence.

"Did something happen?"

**___________________**

 

An hour earlier...

"I told you it wasn't worth it!" With her arms crossed, Alisha hit her foot furiously.

It was already the third house they had tried without any results.

"There's gotten be a damn door that opens!” Jack's patience had also reached its limit.

Suddenly, two crimson butterflies passed by.

"What?”

Confused and surprised to see something alive without being them there, he started to follow the butterflies.

"Jack?" with a confusing expression, Alisha uncrossed her arms and stared at the rabbit walking.

With no sound response, Jack just lifted his paw, signaling her to follow him. Still incredulous, she didn't question and followed him closely.

The butterflies led them to a house deep down the road. Although thousands of years had passed, it was a house that time had forgotten. The fence where she was near, had also passed through the years without being noticed. Next to the house, was a small wooden gate where the butterflies led them.

"Don't go in there, do you?" Alisha hesitated.

"Better to follow them," Jack continued.

He opened the little gate and went in. Even though she hesitated, Alisha decided followed him. Better with him than alone in that end of the world. They found a small garden. Two large trees in each corner of the end of the fence hid a small lake with no fish. But the water was clean and very crystalline.

"Each thing we discover, is another thing that gives me the creeps!" said Alisha, looking at the water like it was something made of evil.

"And there are no more butterflies!” Jack sighed deeply.

"What do you mean, there are no more butterflies?" Vixen's blue eyes met Jack's grayish eyes.

"They disappeared that way!"

With his finger stretched out, he pointed at a small window with railing. Alisha rolled her eyes. Another dead end. Curiously, he approached the small window and, on tiptoe, looked inside. Surprise, an empty storage room. Returning to his original position, and disillusioned, he straightened up again to talk to the Vixen. But what he saw made him petrified.

  
________________  


On the stairs, Judy gave up trying to communicate with his friends. Without any answer, she put the device back in her belt and looked, with disappointment, at Nick, who sighed. Panic was present. What could have happened to his friends not to respond? Before putting back the walkie-talkie, Judy found that it had a net.

"We'll come back to them. Maybe they forgot to turn on the walkie-talkie."

He knew it was a lie. He had given them the device himself. He had double-checked whether it was working properly. But losing their cool at that moment would only disorient them even more. Backpacking, Nick asked Judy to give him the paw. He wouldn't even let her walk alone again. After what had happened, he would be more cautious. Suddenly, an insistent  _tlim tlim_  began to sweat in the distance. Their attention was put on their fronts. The sound was coming from the other side of the bridge.

"Nick?" with an alarmed voice, Judy's claws stuck firmly in his arm. Without knowing why, an overwhelming fear haunted her.

That  _tlim tlim_  was the sound of the staff hitting the ground repeatedly. A melody began to form. That melody was a horror in Judy's ears. A tremendous horror that she didn't know what it meant, but she had the feeling that it wasn't good at all. The drastic change in the expression and figure of the bunny, put all of Nick's senses on alert. Without the light from the flashlight, the moonlight was not enough to recognize what was coming.

"Hide!" Judy's trembling voice whispered to him.

"What?" he turned his attention to the side to meet some violet eyes trapped in the infinity of the darkness, but with a look of fear that he had never seen in her before.

"I don't know, but please, hide."

Without questioning her, he obeyed. Making an effort, he pulled her up and ran up the stairs, thinking that they would reach the top and find a hiding place. But the stairs had no end.

_DAMN!_

He cursed all the holy gods and furiously sought a place where they could hide without being seen. When he saw some shrubs on his left side behind a stone. It would be the perfect hiding place for the moment. Without delay, they would hide behind the stone. The  _tlim tlim_  was nearby. Thick voices echoed a pleasant melody in Nick's ears, but terrible in Judy's ears. So much so that the poor bunny had to carry her paws to her ears, pressing as hard as possible to cover her ears so as not to hear that thing. It is in vain when someone cries out in terror. A crying for help, that made her ears wriggle and her violet eyes witness a vision she didn't even want to see in dead.

               The pain overwhelmed her. Her eyes began to open very slowly, until her vision became a little clearer.

"Ouch!

The word escaped her lips. One of her paws, went instinctively to the place where it hurt. When she removed her paw from her forehead, she found that she was bleeding. She did not remember. All she remembered was seeing Jack with his back peeking out of that little window, and suddenly it all went dark.

A tinkle alerted her to the echo. The little candle in a far corner, was the only source of light. The darkness accompanied her. Alisha tried to move, but something held her back. Sitting on the stone floor, she took her two paws to her ankle, recognizing that she had been chained by one of her feet and to a place she couldn't see.

"What the hell!”

Trying in vain to free herself, she decided to look, with eyes to see, where she really was. It was big, she knew it. With each noise, the echo would take time to disappear. The whole place was made of wood walls and ceiling. Only the ground was different. Cold stone. Windows didn't even exit and the only way out and in, was the big red wooden door with two locks.

_Where the hell she was? Where is Jack?_

Frustrated, she hit both fists on the floor. She hated being alone, and even wishing for all the gods not to stay behind, but fate made things a little different.  


**_To be continued…_ **


	11. Cursed Nine

_** Agony. ** _

_** Fear. ** _

_** Despair. ** _

_** Pain. ** _

Four feelings together in one. Tears took hold of her eyes. Her paws involved her snout. The horror was present in her expression. Nick, on the other hand, tried to keep a calm feeling, but something deep inside him, burned with fury. A fury never felt before. Why this feeling? He didn't know it.

The currents fluctuated according to the movement of the priests. The melody only increased in intensity, in a deafening tone. The blood left its trail as the agitated body, trying in vain to free itself, was dragged upwards without any mercy. The screams that came out of the poor female's snout were agony. Tears, once transparent, were of blood. The white kimono was stained with dirt. The chains held two wounded wrists. But worst of all, was the large chain wrapped around her neck. With each pull, she suffocated.

_“You all will die!"_   The screams of desperation were also of anger.

An anger felt in her gaze that was sometimes closed with force due to the pulling.

However, Judy's tears were already running down her cheeks. The feeling of loss seized her body. That female, in her heart, in an unknown feeling, was very important. Her body wanted to react, in a desperate attempt to release the female and embrace her, to say that everything was just a bad dream and that she would be fine.

"Nick..." in a soft tone, Judy's paw grabbed the fox's shirt tightly. He stared at her, also with a burning desire to save that poor creature.

    Alisha's despair made her fury take over her cries for help. Only her echo answered her. Frustrated, she knocked her fists closed on the big wooden door.

"How this is possible?”

Looking around, there was no justification for her to use and break the lock.

"Damn idea to come here. Argh!"

Suddenly, a strange sound echoed over the great hall.

"What?”

Alisha turned towards the sound, but saw nothing. Besides, the darkness at the end of the hall prevented her from checking what it was. Even using her night vision, almost nothing was visible. And the small light from the candle in the corner did not have any effect. Another big  bang  was heard, but closer. Alisha walked a few steps back, hitting the wood of the door with her back. Her runaway adrenaline was in full swing. Her heart, already excited, reached an unusual rhythm. Her open paws, went to meet the door, in an unconscious attempt to grab something to defend herself, where nothing existed.

"Who?" she questioned, swallowing it dry.

Obviously the answer was silence for a few seconds, another  bang  being even closer, echoing again through the hall.

_I have to get out of here. I have to hide_ _._  She repeated to her conscious.  _But where?_ Focusing more on her night vision, she searched somewhere where she could hide. But... There was nothing. It was a large hall, with stone walls and only a candle in one corner. There was no escape. Again, the  bang  and then her attention focused on her front. When she did, her heart stopped.   
  
  


    The screaming. The melody. The beating of the sticks on the floor. The tlim, the bell's tlim. All this, was driving Judy crazy. She just wanted it to stop. That the scene she was witnessing disappeared. But that wasn't the case. The cries of anger and pain were ignored by the priests. Until, someone's thick voice stopped that horror. Both Nick and Judy looked in the direction of the sound. At the bottom of the stairs, the wolf they had seen with the twins previously, ran desperately up the stairs. The mission was to help the twin, but he was intersected by the other twin, who grabbed him by his wrist, nodding, negatively, with her head so he cannot to do anything stupid. 

_ "We need to stop them. It's not  Sae's  fault"  _ the red eyes stared at the twin's blue crystals. The anger was visible.   

_"If you do, they'll kill you?!"_  she screamed, begging him not to do anything wrong.  

_"It's your sister, for God's sake. We have to do something!”  _

The wolf free himself from the paw that was grabbing him and, in wide steps, climbed the stairs in an attempt to save the other twin.   

"No!" Judy babbled. 

"What?" Nick faced her confused.  

"She'll kill him!"  

"Carrots?"  

"We have to save him."  

The violet eyes were fixed on the scene. Their natural glow had disappeared. Nick turned and put himself in front of her. He took his paws to both the bunny’s arms, wagging her trying to get her out of a kind of trance in which she was.  

"Carrots, come back to earth." 

"We have to save him. We have to save him.”

    Judy kept repeating the words. Nick tried to get her attention. That's when, without any warning, Nick was pulled with all his might against one of the trees on the other side of the stairs. The crash made the poor fox take a deep breath and cough up blood. At that moment, Judy's trance disappeared. Stunned, she saw Nick on the ground. Distressed, she tried to run to his, but was interrupted. The twin she saw at the entrance to the clearing, positioned herself in front of her. The evil smile was wide. Her eyes, all black, stared at her. And the words that were spoken made Judy's heart break.  

_"He's mine!"_  

What happened, was so fast, there was no reaction on that moment. Judy ran to Nick, but it wasn't in time. The twin raised him by the neck, where the fox's paws tried, in vain, to remove the wolf's paws from him. How he could touch her and vice versa, was another matter.  

_"Say goodbye to the one you love,"_  and with that, she disappeared along with Nick. 

Shocked, her knees gave way and went to the bloody ground. Her tears flowed fiercely. And everything collapsed. Judy already understood what was going on. All the pieces were beginning to fit together. She knew that saving him would be painful, but if she didn't, the twin would end up killing him.    
  


_** To  be continued ... ** _


	12. Cursed Ten

The creature in front of her, was blind. The eyes were blindfolded with a leather lining. His naked trunk, was marked by serious wounds, one of which should have caused his death. From the waist down, nothing more than a large brown leather skirt. The belt was once a heavy chain. On his wrists another chain is, and on one of his paws, a huge axe. He snorted. His keen sense of smell and powerful hearing were once his eyes. Conspicuous against the door, Alisha's snout was turned to her left side. Her eyes closed so as not to look at the creature. Her accelerated breathing, was far from being controlled. The creature was just an inch away from her.   
  
 _Go away. Go away._  Her mind was screaming in despair.   
  
"Alisha!"   
  
Her name was shouted. Strong  _bangs_ echoed at the other end of the hall.   
  
 _Jack?_  Her mind wondered.   
  
The bangs caught the attention of the creature, who turned and "ran" towards the other door.   
  
"Alisha, are you there?"   
  
She wanted to answer him, but if she did, the creature would come after her. Then she remembered. She was a fast running. If she drew the creature's attention towards her, she would have time to go to another door. Without delay, she knocked hard on the door. As she had predicted, the creature reacted to the sound and strayed its way towards her. When Alisha saw that he was approaching, she strayed and ran as far as she could to another door.   
  
"Hurry!" she shouted.   
"Give me a few seconds!"   
"Hurry, Jack, please!"   
  
Jack, on the other side, was trying to remove the huge wooden board that kept the door from opening from the inside. After a few seconds he did it.   
  
"Push!" he asked and Alisha did.   
  
The door opened and, without any delay, she closed it again.    
  
"Hurry, the wood!" she asked Jack and he caught the it, and the two, put it back on the door.    
  
With fast breathing, Alisha turned to Jack and, without warning, hugged him tightly.    
  
"I'm glad you got here on time."    
"What happened?" he asked, he was kind embarrassed about the situation and tried to let go, but she was just squeezing him more tighter.    
"I woke up in there. I tried to find something to get out, but the doors were locked." Alisha let go of the hug and stared at him. "Suddenly a creature appeared and I thought..."    
"It's over." Jack smiled at her and pawed over her cheek, trying to reassure her. As he did so, Alisha felt herself blushing. "Let's get out of here."    
"And where are we going?"    
"First somewhere else to take care of your injuries. Then we'll see."    
  
Jack took one of the fox's paws and guided her down the hall.    
  
   The lightning was right above Judy. The deafening sound of the burst didn't bother her. Still on her knees on the ground, her tears had stopped. She no longer had anything to cry about.    
  
"Nick..."    
  
The fox she loved the most, had been robbed from her. Taken from her side by that crazy twin. A twin in whom the anger grew more and more inside Judy.    
  
 _"You'll need to be focused!"_  The sudden voice made the little bunny look shrouded. Two steps up was the wolf that had seen before.  _"Your anger will only blind you. Nick will survive if you are cautious and intelligent."_  
"First I need answers. Only your flashes back won't help!"    
 _"Sae and Yae are the twins of the great priest and owner of this village. Two innocent little cubs, the paws of opportunistic adults."  
_ "Two cubs in love with one mammal."    
 _"My heart belongs to Sae."  
_ "But the jealousy came to another one." Judy took a deep breath. "What does Sae do inside Nick?"    
 _"I see you've found out,"_  the wolf approached Judy and knelt before her.  _"Nick has a heart of gold, but suffered. As you entered this village, your souls were connected."_  
"Explain yourself better?"  
 _"Our souls were not rested until Sae and Yae had finished the ritual!"  
_ "Ritual?" confusion invaded Judy's expression. Where had she heard of this ritual before?   
 _"Yae is the oldest. The first calf. As such, she will have the great responsibility of leading the village. For that, she will have a home with the oldest priest in the village."_  
The displeasure in the expression of the pale wolf could be seen.  _"We do not have the power to choose to marry whom we want. For our families to support themselves, whether male or female, while we are still in the belly of our mothers, we are already committed to others."_  
"So you mean that?"    
 _"It will be easier if you see it through your eyes."  
_  
Getting closer and closer, the wolf's lips touched her's. Surprised by such a reaction, she didn't even realize she was in the past, in the wolf's memories.    
  
The village was lived. The streets were well decorated. It was the day of the Lunar festival. All the villagers wore masks that covered only their eyes of various shapes and sizes.    
   
 _"The day of the lunar festival was always celebrated with great joy. "  
_  
They were mixed up with the villagers, but the villagers didn't even realize their presence. As such, Judy was frightened when two cubs passed through her.    
  
 _"We're a mirage lost in the memories of me, Sae and Yae."_  clarified the wolf, seeing the rabbit's frightened expression.  _"As I was saying, the day of the festival is the day where four couples get married and where the ritual begins and ends. Never, until this day, there was any problem, and the joy on the faces of mammals was not forced,"_  the wolf snapped his fingers and the image changed. Now, they were in a well adorned room. The bed was made of well decorated wood, the dresser was made of well crafted black wood, and the closet was large. The are a large mirror next the closet, and two little twins were preparing for the festival. The costumes, the kimonos, were elegant. One of them wore a crimson-coloured one, while the other wore a baby blue one. The smile on their faces was contagious. Nothing forced. Genuine and wonderful.    
"Why Sae?" Judy questioned. The difference between them wasn't much, but she could tell one from the other. So the question came out without any intention behind it.    
 _"Sae has a beautiful and loving personality. Yae, in spite of having those characteristics too, began to behave strangely. Jealous, personality disorders among other things."_  
"I understand!"   
 _"I never treat her differently, but my heart has never been in love with Yae, even though..."  
_ "She loves you to the point of dying for you." Judy said it in a sigh. However, the wolf was surprised by her words: "Don't look at me like that. Before coming here, I read about a bit of the story. Several legends and tales exist, but I was entitled to the original version, even if some pages were missing."   
 _"So?"_  
"Stories, simple stories that someone with a great imagination. It would be a great worldwide success. But, apparently, it was true."    
 _"The ritual went wrong, as you may know."_  Judy just confirmed it with her head. A snap of the wolf's fingers and they came back to the staircase scene.  _"Sae refused to marry her intended one. She faced a stubborn father saying she was in love with another mammal and didn't want the wedding to go ahead."_    
  
Judy's violet eyes went toward Yae, a twin who had prevented the wolf from saving her sister. The same sinister smile reappeared on the wolf's lips. Once again, Judy sighed before speaking.    
  
"Yae was already possessed and you didn't notice. She wanted her sister to die. Be given to the festival in order to calm the gods."    
 _"Yae began to mess with the occult. She joined a seita in the village where demons are venerated. So weak in heart she was, that whoever possessed her was the most powerful demon of all."_  This time it was the wolf's turn to sigh.  _"We see it too late. That's why everything started to crumble and Yae killed all the villagers in the village."_  
  
Her lips came off and when Judy opened her eyes, for a moment, she saw Nick's reflection.    
  
 _"To save the most important mammal, you need to continue the ritual."  
_ "I won't kill him!"    
 _"You will have a chance to take Sae's soul out of him. You'll have to figure that out on your own. I will help you whenever I can. After all, it is you who carries my soul. Your strong personality will do everything possible to free the souls trapped here and have their rest. Only you have the power to break Yae's curse. I trust you, my dear,"_  and with that, he disappeared.    
  
Only she could save her friends? How could she do it without having to kill Nick? She would never do it and....that kiss. Her fingers went against her lips. She felt it. She knew. She had not kissed the wolf. She, yes, had felt Nick's lips on hers. The feelings of the fox she loves so much, felt in those precious moments.  
  
 __ **To be continued...**


	13. Cursed Eleven

Alisha bit her coat. Although Jack was cautious about disinfecting the head wound, at each touch, she moaned with pain.

"Done!” Jack, now, closed the first aid kit and kept it in his backpack.

They had walked down a wide corridor to a door that would give access to a small garden. On the porch, more properly, on one of the steps of the small stairs, Alisha leaned her back against the wooden pole and sighed with relief when her torment was over.

"How did you find me?" she questioned him.

"Somebody helped me." He was sincere. Alisha frowned in confusion. "I don't know how, why or who it was, but the voice said I would find you if I entered this house.”

"Everything is so confusing."

"Besides, we lost contact with Nick and Judy. I hope they're okay."

Once again, Alisha sighed. They were entering the depths of hell. Every step taken was the road to death. They would have to be careful or they would actually die.

"The map will do us no good.” Jack spoke again. "We will have our instincts to find them and get out of here as soon as possible.”

"Jack?” Alisha called him, staring at him.

"Hmm..."

"Thank you for coming to my rescue."

"You would do the same for me." He smiled at her and put the backpack on his back. "I don't want to rush you, but I think we'd better start looking for them" and he stretched out his paw to help her up.

Alisha settled down positively with her head and took the rabbit's paw.

    His paws were attached to chains. These chains were stuck on the roof. His feet barely touched the ground, so his sore body was supported by his stretched arms. His eyes opened slowly. His blurred vision became a little clearer.

"Where am I?”

Two small candles illuminated a small cubicle. Only one more mammal could in the same space. Blood stains were everywhere. Floors, walls and even ceilings. When he became fully conscious, Nick tried to release himself from the chains that held him, but in vain.

"Damn!”

Frustrated, the tears came to his eyes. He couldn't leave Judy alone in that village. He knew she was a target for those creatures. Not even knowing that he was the one most in danger.

_"She's fine."_

The voice that he recognized and that he began to hate, spoke through a small window.

"What have you done with her?" he growled. His green eyes were fixed on all the black people who looked at him through the small window in front of him.

 _"Nothing..."_  pause  _"...for now!"_  and laughed.

"Don't you dare touch her!"

_"If I were you, I'd worry more about your own good."_

"Do whatever you want with me as long as you don't touch her."

Again, that insane laughter.

_"Sae, my dear. Natsuhiko is gone. Now I need you to help me with the ritual."_

"Sae?” Nick repeated the confusing name.

_"You are as naive as I expected. Even your dear bunny knows what's going on."_

"Judy? What did you do to her?"

_"I already told you nothing. However, astute as she is, she could screw up her decisions."_

"I swear that if..."

_"That insistence will get you nowhere. Either way, I need you to stay put for a few hours. Ritual needs preparation and I'm not ready yet."_

"Explain to me what is all about?"

 _"You will know in your time. First, I need new flesh to strengthen my soul. Your friends will be a good reward"_  and she disappeared, leaving his insane smile echoing.

Nick's fury took hold of him. Powerless to do anything, he tried in vain to break the chains.

**_Judy..._ **

 

    When she finished climbing the stairs, Judy stopped to catch her breath. Once upstairs, a small cemetery took her in.

 _Good, a road without end!_  She thought to herself, frustrated.

_"Open your heart. Let him guide you to those you love. Two butterflies will be helped you on your way. But beware, Yae has already begun preparations for the ritual."_

Judy closed her eyes and caressed the wolf's voice to calm her broken heart. She had to be sane. She had too. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and listened to her heart. For seconds, she let herself be, until she decided to open her eyes, two crimson butterflies appeared in front of her. She smiled at them and they strayed to start trek. Judy passed through the chapels of the deceased and found a dirt road. On her return, the large forest welcomed her. With every step she took, she could hear the voices of the villagers caught in the curse. Sad laments and the confusion of having died suddenly. Nothing happens on her way and the butterflies stopped, flying over a small fire. Two small clearings welcomed a small dirt road and three steps. After these steps, a door.

_"Go through the door. You will find a large corridor with two doors. Take the left. If you follow the corridor without any problems, you'll find what you're looking for the most."_

Judy took a paw to her chest and took a deep breath. With the other one, she pulled the door handle and opened it. The darkness gladly welcomed her.

 _You can do it, Judy. You will follow your instincts and find it. Trust in yourself._  And she advanced into the darkness. The door behind her, closed slowly.

*******

"It's the third attempt."

Leaning back against the wall of the house, her arms crossed and showed frustration in her expression. They were lost. It was a fact.

"We won't leave here!" In a long sigh, Jack walked away from the decimate door.

"How did you get in?”

"I told you, that one over there!" he pointed to the front door of the house.

"This is too much!"

Suddenly, the sound of the phone ringing startled them. At the entrance, namely in the Hall, a few meters away from him, there was a kind of small balcony. In the past, that house should have been the reception of patients. It was a kind of hospital, because of the way it was decorated in the place where they were. Fearful, Alisha was the one who approached the telephone. She still hesitated before picking up the headset of the old telephone and carrying her ear. On the other side, no sound was heard for the moment.

"So?”

Curiously, Jack approached Vixen with a confusing expression.

"Nothing!” Alisha put the headset back on the phone. But as soon as she did, he rang again. "You've got to be kidding me!"

Once again, she took the headset off the damn phone and this time she didn't win to the fright when the sound, bass and sinister, shouted on the other side. At that moment, she dropped the device and walked away. Her paw went against her fast-paced heart and strong breathing.

 _"Kill her…Sae…Yae need’s her…to…”_ and the beeper was the only thing that echoed right after the sinister voice through the Hall.

Confused, they looked at each other. What had happened? Who was Sae? And....kill? What the hell was going on?

**_To be continued…_ **

 


	14. Cursed Twelve

Two big candlelight. Both in each corner of the entrance hall. In front, four small steps. A curtain hanging and torn, its color long ago that was bright and beautiful, vanish. Behind it, a small corridor with an end. On both sides, two doors. Judy advanced from vague Steps. Not that she was afraid, but the feeling that something was going to happen was present at that very moment, and caution was needed. Passing the curtains, where she diverted them to the side, she went towards the door on her left side, just as the wolf had indicated to her. Without any effort, the door opened as soon as the doorknob was turned. Biyombo’s, kimonos and other things made it difficult for the bunny to pass through until to next door. What had happened in that little room, would be among the secrets of the gods, for Judy hurried to another door to get out of there as soon as possible. Once outside that tiny cubicle, she sighed deeply. What welcomed her, was a wooden wall in front and a wide corridor, with a few steps further on, there would be another corridor.

"These villagers were obsessed with corridors and doors," she said to the air, sighing.

_"All mine. Everyone on my paws. Their souls are mine. No one else can interfere.”_

Violet eyes went towards the sound that came from her right side. The image in front of her, was from Yae. On her back, the kimono she wore was no longer white, but stained red. Possibly blood. It was the blood of the villagers she killed. Well, on one of her paws, someone was dragged. A mammal, in which sex was not perceptible. An inert body that left a stain of blood until it was turned around at the next corner and disappeared. Judy's heart accelerated. Now she felt the fear. A great fear of that monstrosity. A mammal in which she had lost her mental insanity. In a bloody and terrifying creature.

"But why?” The words thought out of her lips.

_"The pain of losing the mammal she loves to her sister. The overload of leading a village. An arranged marriage with the oldest villager. All these things gave the poor Yae an instability."_

Next to Judy, Natsuhiko looked down the hall in a sad expression. Judy stared at him for a few seconds.

"In a way I understand her." The astonishment was visible on the wolf's face. "A lost female, in unrequited feelings, forced to do things she doesn’t liked. Anyone would go crazy."

_"Compassion for her won't make you save Nick."_

"And it won't help at all to break the ritual." Judy completed the sentence in other words and in a deep sigh. "You and Sae did little to help her. In the moments she needed most, you turned your back."

_"These are strong words to say when you don't know things."_

"You don't have to see to realize certain things."

 _"Be smart and don't be carried away by compassion for Yae. She will do anything to kill Nick. Remember that"_  and he's gone.

"She'll do anything to kill another mammal for the one she loved."

***

"Could you help instead of staring?"

Jack's anger was already piquing. The keys he had found in one of the twenty drawers of the little counter hadn't opened any doors.

"What do you want me to do?" stupid question, she knew. But if he was trying to open the doors, what could she do but stare?

"Look for something. I don't know.”

Alisha frowned. What could she find in a Hall that had already been seen from one end to the other? There were no hidden places that had escaped her.

"Damn!" and the keys hit the ground. "Not even the fucking bars!"

"I think we'd better sit down and wait!"

"Wait for what? We're locked in a three-store building. Do you expect those things to tell us what to do?" Jack came down the stairs and positioned himself inches from the Vixen.

"Why not? You said yourself that they helped you get here. Maybe they'll tell us how to get out.

With his eyes open, Jack couldn't believe what he was hearing. Closing his eyes and shaking his head, he strayed away from Alisha and went to try the other doors again with the keys. Maybe he missed something.

"You'll just waste your time."

"Better to try than to wait for a miracle."

"Whatever you say!”

Alisha did the honors at home and, sitting on one of the chairs over there, folded her arms and waited for Jack to do some miracle with those doors.

***

               Judy took a deep breath before she started walking. Although she felt sorry for Natsuhiko and the twins, she had to concentrate on finding Nick. Walking a few meters ahead, the intersection took place in the hallway. On her right side, as predicted, there was another corridor, but smaller. Ten steps and she would reach the door on her left side. Judy could ignore it, but her instincts asked her to check that door first and then proceed to the other intersection of the corridor, where Yae had disappeared with the dead mammal. As she went to take a step forward. She froze. Two ghosts passed through her. Both had a leather band in their eyes. Their torso was naked and from the waist down, a skirt of the same material as the blindfold. On his paws, a huge axe crawled across the floor. The two of them ignored her and went through the door where she was going. Inside, the noise of chains alerted her. Running towards the door, she tried to open it, but without success. A cry of pain. A well-known scream. A scream that made her break her heart more than once.

"NICK!”

She screamed and tried to open the door, but without success.

_No. Please, Yae, no. Let him go. Call your subordinates back._

Her mind was screaming in despair. Her tears flowed down her cheeks. Distress of not being able to save him, she was breaking from inside. Another cry of pain. The axes could be heard being pulled and lifted.

**NO!**

Judy beat with all her strength. She was desperately trying to blow the door apart and running against it. Her shoulder hurt. But she didn't care. The pain in her heart when she knew Nick was being wounded, was greater.

"Open the fucking door," another of Nick's cries, "Yae, please, I beg you, stop. YAE," she shouted loudly, and suddenly the door opened, causing Judy to unbalance and fall to her knees on the ground.

After recovering, her eyes went towards Nick. When she saw his figure, the hatred shot out. The fox's shirt was torn. The cuts of the axes were visible on the chest and abdomen. Blood flowed through the lower left corner of his lip. From his forehead, a thread of blood was also visible. Quickly, Judy got up and ran towards him. Her paws were off against the fox's face.

"Nick, open your eyes, please." Her tears filled her eyes again. "Open your eyes, Nick."

She patted him gently on the cheeks to wake him up. She knew that he hadn't died, but that he was unconscious. Seeing that he didn't react, she searched for something to break the chains. Her eyes searched around the small room. A closet on her left side made Judy deviate from the fox and go in its direction. The sliding doors break with the force in which they were opened. Inside, an axe. Grabbing him, and re-positioning herself in front of Nick, she broke the chains. Once released, the axe was thrown to the ground and the fox's unconscious body towards her arms. Judy knelt down and gently laid Nick's body on the stone floor. Then, she gently knocked on his face again, for the fox open his eyes. He couldn't fall asleep. If he did, he would die.

"Nick, please open your eyes. You're safe. Please, Nick, you can't die in my arms." Judy leaned over his chest and cried. She cried like never before in her life. "I can't lose you, not now. NICK, OPEN YOUR EYES!" And she shouted.

Slowly, the fox's eyes began to open. The vision was blurred, and it took a few seconds to become more or less clear. 

"Good morning, Carrots," he smiled at her and took a wounded paw to her face, wiping away the tears.

"Welcome back, Nicolas Wilde." Judy returned her smile, caressing his paw on her face. 

**_To be continued…_ **


	15. Cursed Thirteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> N/A – Let me explain on thing, before you proceed to the chapter. I know everyone or almost everyone put the color of Judy eyes “Violet”, others put them “Purple”. I, sometimes, put them Purple and not Violet. But I see many stories with the word ‘Violet’ that I put more than Purple.
> 
> And, I don't know if it's my ignorance, but purple and violet aren't almost... the same?  
> Well, I just wanted to let you guys know about my doubts. XD

 

 "I give up!"

Jack said, in a long sigh, as he sat next to Alisha. His back went to rest on the wooden wall.

"Well, we can get some rest!" Ironically, Alisha had already given up trying. Nothing led anywhere and she really expected a miracle.

"Yes, rest." Another sigh and silence fell on them.

They were both desperate, that was remarkable in their expressions. But after so many failed attempts, despair was the same as giving up. It would be better to wait a while. Clarify their minds and discuss what they might have missed so they could get out of there.

Suddenly, an extremely insane sound echoed over the great all. On alert, Alisha clung to Jack's arm.

"Who?" he asked.

_"He's going to die."_

"Who?" insisted the rabbit, looking in all his directions.

_"For that, I need fresh blood."_

"Where are you?"

_"Here!"_

And, without any warning, Yae reappeared inches from the faces of Alisha and Jack. The poor rabbit almost had a heart attack and Alisha fainted.

_"I need you!"_

Without delay, Jack is pulled out and falls on the ground, biting with his face. The fall caused him to bleed out of his nose. Trying to balance as she took one of her paws to the bruised place, Alisha had been lifted by her neck and thrown against the little counter, losing consciousness.

"ALISHA!” Jack screamed in desperation.

_"You're next."_

Yae did the same to Jack. Raised him by the neck and suffocated him until he lost consciousness and stopped struggling.

_"I'm sorry innocent creatures, but the ritual must continue."_

Taking Alisha, Yae disappeared with both.

**Oo~oO**

               Every touch, every groan of pain. Judy's blouse had been torn up her sleeves. One piece was wrapped around Nick's forehead, and with the other, she wiped the cuts on his abdomen and torso. Although they were not deep, the infection was a hypothesis. And, without the backpack where she had the first aid kit, he would succumb to fever. Besides, despite all her strength, the tears insisted on her violet eyes. The guilt of not having him before and saving him, consumed her. Even though the truth was completely different.

After cleansing the wounds, she would have to protect the wounds, but there was nothing plausible to help her with that.

"Carrots?" Nick's calm, sweet voice, called her.

Judy didn't look at him so he wouldn't see her tears. Besides, her eyes were busy looking for a reliable fabric to put around the entire torso of her fox.

"Carrots..." he called her again, but this time he took one of his paws to her chin, forcing her to face him. Then Judy looked away. The tears began to flow. "I'm fine!”

It was the drop of water.

"How can you be well?" Her voice was exalted. She didn't even realize how loud she was speaking. “I didn't ask for any of this when we came here. We entered a dangerous hell where death accompanies us. With every step we take, we get hurt. Those creatures almost killed you," her breathing was accelerated. "Yae will pay for this. I swear I will end this hell even if I have to sacrifice myself" her tone of voice went down and, again, her eyes went to the ground.

"Hey, don't say that. None of us are going to die," his green eyes opened as he saw the raging expression from the bunny in front of him. Had he said anything stupid?

"The story will be brief and short. So, listen to me carefully, Nicolas."

 _What's going on?_  he thought. He had never seen such fury and hatred in those violet eyes that he loves so much.

"Before we came here, I found a book in the municipal library in which he tells a little about the town. The book was old, so some pages were missing. However, it looked like a well-imagined horror story. Sacrifices, lost souls, possessions. All this was fascinating. However, the true power of the book came to reality. Obviously, when I finished reading, I thought that the author was very good and that if the book was well known it would be a worldwide success". While she was speaking, Judy decided to take off the thin coat she had on her waist. She tore it up, so that both cuts on the abdomen and the torso on Nick, could be covered. "Nick, I need you to help me." the fox raised his arms and Judy started to put a piece wrapped around the first cut, knotting the fabric in order to keep it tight, trying to prevent the blood from flowing more than it had already drained.

"And what did that book say?"

"Two female twins. Daughters of the powerful village chief" part of the story was not in the book, but Judy would hide the fact that Natsuhiko had helped her. Returning to her original position, Judy tore up another piece of cloth and did the same procedure for the other cut. Once the cuts were completely covered up, Judy straightened up again and stared Nick in the eye. She would tell him what she knew. Maybe some part wasn't going to be said. But it would let the fox know what was really going on. "Both were always happy until they were old enough to get married. It wasn't their decision, as they wouldn't both know until their sixteenth birthday, when they were getting ready for marriage. However, what they did not know, was that everything was already planned and when they were still in their mother's womb. This information was only revealed when they were old enough to understand what it meant, and by the time they were sixteen, they were already metallized and would be committed to other mammals that they already knew or did not know. That didn't matter." Judy took a short break in which Nick took the opportunity to interrupt.

"Carrots, what are you getting at?"

"The Lunar festival would be in two weeks'. At that time, the twins were prepared for the wedding."

"I still don't understand."

"That wolf you saw in one of the visions was their childhood friend."

"Fluff, would you like to come directly to the specific issue, please?"

Judu closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The question she was going to ask, made her heart accelerate.

"Nick, how do you feel when you look at me?"

OK, the question was unprepared. His heart began to accelerate, and his paws began to tremble a little. Besides, he felt his cheeks warm and thanked for his fur to be red. Did she want the truth, or would he lie? That moment could be the right one to say what he really felt, but he preferred to choose to circumvent the question.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb. Answer with sincerity. What do you feel when you look at me?"

"Affection, friendship..." was true.

"That's it?”

"Why, Fluff, did you want more?" the changeling smile reappeared on his lips. Besides, the question came out in a "joking" tone.

"You carry Sae's soul with you. The soul of the youngest twin."

Amazing, it was the right word. Now he was beginning to understand the meaning of the words previously spoken by Yae.

"Wait! How do I carry the soul of...?"

"I know that it is confusing. I also found it too, but now I have got used to it."

"That means that you too..."

"Mine is that of the wolf. The soul I carry is Natsuhiko's, with whom you are in love.” 

_Oh gods, oh gods. What the hell is going on?_

"And the ritual? I remember Yae talking about it. She was talking about…fresh meet?"

"Oh my God." Judy got up in a jolt. "Nick, we need to find Jack and Alisha. She's going to kill them."

"Carrots, what the hell is going on? Why kill them?"

"I'll explain it to you later. We need to keep going." 

Judy stretched one of her paws to Nick who took her in. He got a little off balance, but he managed to stay on his feet.

"You can?" the concern on the rabbit's face was visible.

"As long as we're not running, everything will be fine."

Nick bowed a little and kissed his bunny's head, between his ears.

**_To be continued…_ **


	16. Cursed  Fourteen

The conversation they'd had, don't get out of his head. Souls in them? Ritual? Deaths? There was a lot to ask, in which the answers had to wait. His green eyes followed closely the small figure of his bunny in front of him. There was a lot that was hidden, and he felt that there was a secret in which Judy did not want to tell him. This secret would be discussed when he had the opportunity.

Judy turned at the end of the initial corridor. Remembering that Yae had turned to this side with a mammal on her paws. After turning around, they saw a large sliding door on their right side. Without delay, she opened the door. A smell of rot, got in their nostrils, both of them being forced to cover their nostrils with their arms. The initial darkness was illuminated and when it happened, the horror in both their expressions was visible. On the ground, from every corner, the bodies of the villagers. Many intact, others dismembered. The blood made the bodies half submerged like a small lake. In the center of the bodies, Yae. Vigorous, and with a smile on her lips. Her lifeless eyes went against them, breaking the silence with an insane laughter. After a few seconds, everything changed. The floor was empty, Yae disappeared and there was no blood. The hall was well lit, clean, and as if he had been tidied up that same day. Nothing old. Nothing from the passage of time.

"She's crazy," Nick said, going in first.

"Tell me about it," she babbled between her teeth, following him closely.

 

**Oo~oO**

Jack started to regain consciousness. His vision began to become clearer.

 _Where am I?_  he thought.

Looking around, the rabbit realized he was in the small amphitheater on the street. In front of him was a small wooden stage. Next to him were the stone benches. Where had he been brought?

He realized that his paws were tied and that his back was leaning against.... A tree!?

A pleasant melody began to be heard. Suddenly, the image in front of him changes. The empty benches began to fill up. The villagers began to sit down, occupying the benches until there was no room. The balcony that ran the small amphitheater was also filled. A show was about to begin. Which one? Jack was confused to see four small cubs in each corner of the circular stage. Remembering the positioning of a compass. The cups' costumes were a white kimono. On one of their paws, a small wooden stick with a bell and a white ribbon. Both of them rang the bell according to the melody. Suddenly, in front of his, from a large door, two priestesses came out. With them, a female. She was a female with a mask that covered her eyes, a large and wide white kimono and a crimson cloak on top, with the hood covering her head and half the mask. The priestesses led her up to the stage. Another cub ran with the same stick with the bell and the ribbon.

"Let the dance begin," the villagers announced in unison. Silence fell on the amphitheater, until a different melody began to be played.

The light of the full moon shone the figure of the female, as a spotlight always positioned in the main actress, if it was treated. One step forward, an elegant wheel and a ringing of the bell, began the dance. Jack couldn't take his eyes off those magnificent movements. Elegant in her presumptuousness, just like the melody that accompanied her.

Everything, at first, was fascinating. Something in which the eyes would be impossible to remove. But all of a sudden, the dance begins to become crazy. The cubs start ringing the bells more quickly. What was fascinating at first began to become horrifying. The cubs began in a shrill laughter. The villagers followed the crazy rhythm with their clapping. The priestesses approached the main female. A female that Jack, when he glimpsed who she was, his heart was broken. It was Alisha. Her eyes, once magnificent blue crystals, had lost their iris and were in a kind of trance.

That's when Jack started trying to free himself. Something told him it wouldn't end well. The dance continued. The rhythm increased. Alisha's breathless breathing indicated that she was running out of strength, and if she stopped, she would faint.

"ALISHA WAKE UP!” Jack shouted as he tried to free himself from the strings that held him to the tree. "PLEASE, WAKE UP," he screams.

No effect. She couldn't hear him. Lost in the trance, her only intention was to dance. Dancing, the one that had been interrupted abruptly. The shock broke Jack's hopes down. The tears in his eyes didn't take long to form. Palms were beaten with enthusiasm. One more sacrifice made, one more year of rest. And everything disappeared. The ropes that held him together untied on their own. It didn't take Jack long, to straighten up and run to the stage. Alisha was there.

Jack knelt before the Vixen. He took her by the arms, asking her to open her eyes to wake up. By then, the tears were running down his cheeks. One of his paws ran into the wound on Alisha's belly in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding.

"Jack...” her voice was hoarse.

"Stay with me, Alisha.”

"No... I can..." and she coughed...blood.

"It's all going to be fine. You'll be fine."

"Jack, save yourself!" a little smile and the eyes closed...forever.

"No... Alisha... NO!”

 

**Oo~oO**

_"To soothe the curse of the village, while Yae is wandering the streets, it will take several sacrifices a year to calm the gods."_

Nick threw the book down hard on the floor. Just hearing the word 'Ritual' moved his nervous system.

"Were they all crazy in the old days?"

Judy remained silent. If she told him that he was the main bait for the final ritual, his mental sanity would break.

"We need to be mentally stable.”

"Speak for yourself! You're too calm for my taste!"

 _There they went to argue_. Judy thought.

"For your information, when you disappeared, I was suddenly terrified, not knowing what to do."

"And how did you get there? Without a map, you'd walk around!"

"My sixth sense." Judy advanced to the stairs. Maybe the top floor gave her clues.

"You didn't answer my question!” Nick approached her. And it was true. She hadn't answered him honestly.

"I've already answered you, my sixth sense!” Shaking her head, Judy began to climb the stairs.

"Carrots, you're not being sincere. I know you very well" the fox's eyebrows came together in an angry expression.

 _Damn it._  She didn't want to tell him anything about what had happened before. Not that she wanted to omit it, but talking more about it, it would even lead to the truth about the situation of her fox.

"My instinct guided me.” she repeated the same words. It was not entirely true, but it was not entirely false either.

"You have good hearing, but that alone doesn't lead you to be able to find me.”

"Nick, please, it's true. I followed my instinct."

Nick arched his eyebrow. She didn't tell him the truth. Taking a deep breath, he decided to stop and believe that little trick.

"Whatever you say," he replied, and Judy noticed the tone of displeasure in his voice.

Nick advanced first, passing through her and hitting the top of the stairs. Judy took a deep breath. She would have to find a solution quickly to break the damned curse.

**Oo~oO**

Jack's tears were over. He carefully rested Alisha's dead body and covered it with his coat. Anger controlled his state of mind. This was not what he imagined. He just wanted a good story for his newspaper. Now, an important member of his team, a dear friend, a fox that his heart had begun to see differently, dead in that village. So young with a brilliant life ahead of her. Yes, anger and hatred. Two raw feelings. Two feelings that, if not controlled, would end up killing his healthy mind. He would have to find Judy and Nick. Talk about what happened and get out of there. But, trapped in an endless maze, where doors don't open, endless corridors and parallel dimensions, would make it difficult for him to find them. In a long sigh and a last farewell to his friend, Jack got up and started his way back. At a beginning he wouldn't know where he would be.

 

**_To be continued…_ **


	17. Cursed Fifteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello :D
> 
> Well, Cimar is editing my chapter 09 of the other story and I decided to reread the story: "Cursed Village" and I ended up having ideas and writing. 
> 
> Please, I insist on saying that my mother tongue is Portuguese and English does not belong to the first or second language of my country. My effort is pure to translate my creations for you to read and I hope it will be a little better in grammar and punctuation. 
> 
> I say goodbye and hope you enjoy the twist of this story =)

  An unusual feeling made Judy suddenly stop as soon as she reached the top floor. Her breathing accelerated. Her eyes fixed the wooden floor.

"Nick..." the voice sweated like a begged.

"Tell me?" he answered without looking at her, keeping his focus on the door he had found when he reached that little place.

"Something happened!”

Continuing without looking at her, and finding the way to the door, he answered her again as he put his paw on the doorknob. "What now?”

"Something very bad!”

"Carrots, your reluctance to speak in vague words is beginning to mess with my patience." the door opened.

"I don't know what..." the words died in her mouth.

Judy didn't even have time to react. Hell was right in front of her eyes. Not only did Yae smile at her with a sinister smile, but a black shadow full of several souls screamed in a heap of supplications. As bad as that supplications were, the rabbit's legs gave way, hitting the ground. Her paws went against her ears, squeezing them tightly. Her body seemed paralyzed. Nick, on the other hand, didn't realize it soon enough. Although he was facing the door, his attention first stuck to the doorknob he was opening. Only minutes later, did he fixate on Yae.

_"I knew she would save you. Her motivation is enormous. However, I'm sorry, but you'll have to accompany me!”_

With this, she took a paw to one of the fox's arms and pulled him to herself. The door closed suddenly. Judy was perplexed. The body did not obey her when she saw Yae's paw moving towards Nick. The paralysis that held her torment, broke as soon as the door closed. Anguished, she did not shed tears but hit her fist on the ground. She lost him again. She had escaped from his paws once again. And this time, she knew that not even with Natsuhiko's help, would it be easy to find him.

                                                                          _______________

The glow in his eyes was gone. On his shirt, once elegant and brightly colored, was stained with blood. From Alisha's blood. It seemed surreal. He couldn't believe it. Destiny is marked. Jack knew that death could come at any moment, but he never expected it to be so sudden. He thought they would still have a good few years together of jokes, discussions, walks, and maybe even a possible romance. A feeling he had already discovered for some time but was afraid to tell her it because Alisha only had eyes for Nick, and now he couldn't say anything. She was dead. She died in his arms. Tears started falling down his cheeks again, as he asked his brain to walk. Jack had left the amphitheater and found himself with a corridor-wide enough to know that the end was not near. Besides, there was no door for him to open. Just the cold stone wall. He had to get to Judy and Nick. He had to tell them what had happened to Alisha.

_"Hopes are nothing but an illusion. You'll have your way out, but you need to be careful!”_

Jack stopped walking. He stretched his ears very inert, until then they were down, and looked in all directions. No one.

_"You'll get to Judy, but you'll have to be brief with your words!"_

Again, the same voice spoke. That's when Jack answered her back.

"Who?”

_"I'm not an enemy. Go down the hall. A few more steps and you'll find a door. On the other side, a small room. Then, you will find a window. Open it and follow the small statues that are dyed in crimson. There, you'll have to follow your instinct."_

As it appeared, it disappeared. Jack again questioned who the voice was again, but the silence was his answer. He had to follow those words. Although he was afraid, something told him to trust those words.

                                                                          **___________________**

  
"I'll end up dying of grief before I find a solution." The little rabbit said to the air.

Judy didn't know what to do. Leaning against the wall, her little arms held her legs close to her chest. The glow of her gaze was lost, and her determination was close to being lost too. As soon as she had been found him, they had already stolen him from her. And that’s was the drop of water for her wounded heart, now completely shattered. Along with that, the feeling she had at first hadn't disappeared. She knew that something had happened to her two friends.

_"I know how painful it is!”_

She didn't answer at first. She recognized where the voice came from. Then her empty expression changed to anger. Her eyebrows came together, and her angry eyes met the figure of the wolf in front of her. Natsuhiko faced her with sadness and resentment.

_"Don't be discouraged. You will find him_!" words of strength that were thrown by those of anger soon after.

"It's all your fault," she almost shouted. "You should have spoken to Yae first and made things clear, but no."

Bewildered by the rabbit's attitude, he did not lose his temper, responding calmly:  _"I'm sorry I didn't notice earlier!"._

"What a brazen lie!"

It was time for the wolf's calm to get lost and respond in the same tone of voice as her:  _"What do you mean by that?"._

"You knew from the beginning that Yae was in love with you. You knew how much she devoted herself wholeheartedly to everything she did and how much time she counted in order to be able to see you. The insensitivity on your part, choosing to ignore it, led to the shattering of her already wounded poor heart. You, males, have a thing that everything will be fine, that we females are strong, but to a certain extent!".

_"You're implying things you don't know about!"_

"I am no misunderstanding in the matter. But I recognize the pain in her gaze when I see it. Yae suffers, even now. Saving Sae will lead to the certain death of her sister, and that's what you want!"

_"Yae must die so that we are all free! And I have already warned you that you must have no compassion for that creature."_

Judy really lost her temper and got up. From a stretched arm and a finger pointed to a ghostly figure of the wolf, she cried out in full lungs.

"That creature was once a living being. A being who, unfortunately, had her destiny chosen yet born, fell in love with the wrong male and her sister turned her back on her. You are only seeing your side of things. You just want to get together with Sae, but don't think about Yae for a minute. What consumes her, is derived from her suffering. She continues to have the joviality and joy of a girl of her fifteenth years." Judy took a deep breath before moving on. "I will save not only Sae but also Yae. Whoever possesses her must die," turning her back on Natsuhiko, Judy hastened the step to the door. However, a hand on her shoulder made her turn around again, and once again, the wolf's lips met her.

                                                                         ____________

_"I'm in love!" Sae's melodious voice filled the half-lit room._

_The two twins were lying in bed. Sae read a book while Yae saw herself in the little mirror on her paws._

_"And may I know who the lucky mammal is?"_

_"Natsuhiko!" foreshadows the name, Sae's eyes sparkled and a passionate smile reappeared in her face. On the other hand, Yae petrified._

_"Hmm...is that fantastic?!" Yae knew the words sounded forced, but Sae didn't seem to notice it at all._

_"Isn't it?" now Sae's blue eyes met her sister's "It's tomorrow at the festival that I'm going to confess to him!"_

                                                                        **____________**  
  


Pain. Sadness. Suffering. Judy almost cried over Yae. She was already suffering enough to know that she had to marry some old villager, be a chief with him and provide him with children. The idea disgusted her. Yae wanted to have the opportunity to make love to the mammal she loved, but even that had been taken away from her. All because she was born first. Already, Sae would have the freedom to do what she wanted. Being the youngest, she had the right to choose what to do with her life. That right that Yae always wanted and always envied.

It was enough for Judy to realize what to do and be able to break the ritual. She had to get to Yae first. The girl behind that demon who possessed her. Releasing her would be the solution to a deadly outcome. Judy's paws went against the wolf's chest. Without explanation, they didn't cross him, but they pushed him and the kiss broke.

"I have an answer."

_"You're quite wrong if that's how you can save Nick."_

"I won't sin the same way you and Sae did."

With that, she turned her back and entered the darkness on the other side of the door, closing the door tightly behind her.  
  
 _ **To be continued...**_


	18. Cursed Sixteen

Like he was told, Jack found the door. Cautiously, he opened it. Normally, darkness is something that welcomes them whenever they enter another compartment, but this time it wasn't the case. Two small candles, one in each corner of the small room, illuminated the small cubicle well. Nothing else was there, which Jack supposed to be just a small children's room or a perfect hiding place to hide. The small window, however, was the only way out. Without delay, Jack approached her. His paw went to meet the lock, where he turned it to his right side and pulled the small window door. The moist air was cleaned and goes through his nostrils. It felt good. He leaned over the small parapet and noticed that the fall was not so big. He would be able to jump into the grass below without getting hurt.

 

                                                                           **Oo~oO**

 

               Her sanity was being tested. She was trying to put herself lucid, put her thoughts in order and think of a solution for how to get to Yae and save Nick. However, she did not know where to begin. She needed more information and she will not be asking the wolf. She was more than furious about his attitude early. Beautiful, but insensitive. He wanted to get rid of Yae, so that he could live the burning passion with Sae. Idiot and blinded by his stupid goal. He ended up dying without even being able to say his feelings for Sae and having no intention of clarifying things with the other twin. What was he thinking? Pretending that nothing bad would happen? Foolishness seen with attentive eyes. The poor female was already suffering enough and that was only the drop of water for her to give herself completely to her already suffering.

"Males!" she said to the air with an irritating statement.

Blinded by her irritation and lost in her thoughts, she did not win the fright when something went through her unexpectedly. She stopped. Watchful eyes were put to the test. The darkness had long since disappeared since she reached a small corridor. The candles, hanging from the appropriate support on the wall, illuminated every nook and cranny.

 _"Yae needs...Yae requires! She needs more..."_  the thick, hoarse voice filled the silence of the corridor.

To healthy eyes, nothing was seen. Judy remembered the camera Nick had with him and cursed herself for don’t have the slightest importance to ask for that object that would be appreciated know.

 _"That's not enough... She needs more..." the_  voice kept whispering.

Judy went a little further, ignoring that indomitable voice. However, her journey was interrupted when her foot stepped on something...viscous. Putting her attention on the ground, her fur shivered. The red liquid made a small trail. Blood was already something usual in her presence, but the problem was that the red liquid seemed... Fresh and resentful. Something that was not visible in the other times. Curious and, at the same time, frightened, she looked forward, to see if she could detect something with the naked eye. However, she regretted it. Again, those bare-chested creatures, a brown leather skirt wears away over time and bandages wrapped around where he had his ears before. And she knew they were blind. Creatures who were guided by Yae's orders without protest. However, it was that mammal who was dragged mercilessly on the ground by one of the paws, that made Judy's eyes fill with tears.

"No!" that's what she could say.

Her feeling was right. Something bad had really happened to her two friends.

 

                                                                                          **Oo~oO**

 

               Outside that room, Jack breathed a sigh of relief from the moonlight bathing his fur. He had given it to a large garden. Although it had been consumed by the wear and tear of the time, it was amazing how clear and beautiful parts looked. One of them was the small lake on his right side. The water was crystal clear, and some fish swam. The trees around them continued majestically. A strange contrast, but a sense of peace.

"Incredible!”

His fascination lasted only a short time when he returned to reality by looking to his left side. The road, which followed by dirt, descended a small hill to the main road of the village. It didn't take him long to notice that he had gone almost to the main entrance. The same place he would have been just moments before the whole situation happened.

_Follow your instinct, you will reach Judy!_

The words of that voice made his spirit a little high. He decided to set out on his way, going down the small hill to the main entrance. Then, he would look for the crimson-dyed statues to find Nick and Judy. And maybe they could get out of there.

 

                                                                                          **Oo~oO**

 

               Once again, his vision was blurred. The blow had been strong because a small pain had struck him in shock. Instinctively, he took his paw to the sore spot and when he put it in front of him, he cursed himself. He was bleeding again. In a sigh, he would end up succumbing to his wounds before he could even get out of there.

_"You will have your chance. It will be an easy decision. All you have to do is give yourself up so that we can all be free!"._

The voice, unrecognized, made his blurred vision clear and his instinct alert. However, he couldn't see anything like the dark cloak warmly bathed him. Nick tried his night vision but without success. He was wounded, his head hurt, and he still had a bit of a distorted vision. He realized that his back was against something. He pressed them harder, finding the comfort of that support, and sighed. He had been taken again by Yae. Once again, he was separated from Judy with a new wound. Hopes were beginning to shake. With each step they took, the new wounds appeared, and they always got separated.

 _We won't get too far_. He thought.

Anguished at the idea that maybe the ritual would be the solution to everything. If Judy was saved, it didn't matter that he died just knowing that his rabbit would be safe and sound from that place. Until that moment, he always thought that Judy was the most in danger. However, after some events, Yae showed more interest in him than in the rabbit and only hurt her because she wanted to save him. That, yes, he had already noticed. Besides, Judy had told him that he was carrying Sae's soul. If it were true, and from what he had heard through from non-direct words, Yae needed him to continue the ritual. And, ritual, in the old days, they always demanded life. How stupid.

_That's why you were worried about me, Judy. That's why you hurt yourself so nothing would happen to me. And now I know why you insist. I'm sorry, Judy, but I can't get away with it. You'll have to live your life. Break the ritual and get out of here!_

To give up was no solution and he knew it. But seeing Judy constantly wounded because of him was worse than dying to save her.

 

                                                                                          **Oo~oO**

 

               Her legs gave way and her knees fell to the ground. She took her paws to her face and began to cry. It was too much. It was unnerving not to be able to do anything. For some time, her eyes did not let go of the figure of Alisha being dragged without mercy. Dead, Judy knew that life no longer belonged to that fox who was deeply annoying to her and who took her out of her mind. But she never wished for her death. She never thought that a story for the newspaper would accept such serious consequences. Such consequences were not even in their plans. They would only get a story and now they were stuck in time because of a curse. She cursed that village, its habitants and especially the wolf. The rage struck it in a pike. Her sanity was lost, and she only wanted revenge. Nothing would scare her anymore. If she was wounded, she ignored the consequences and would kill that demon anyway. No one else would lose their lives. No, because she would be able to break all that. Wiping her face with the back of her paw, she got up and ran down the hallway.

 

**_To be continued…_ **


	19. Cursed Seventeen

"Honestly!" his frustration was great.

After walking down the hill, Jack still wandered around the village trying to find such statues like the voice had indicated. After some lost time, no statues were visible.

 _What now?_  He thought to himself, looking around.

Three paths. Two on both sides of him and one behind him. The path behind him would lead to the entrance of the village. The one on the right was the way down and the one on the left cut a path to two large houses. He pondered returning from the right. After all, there was the path he took with Alisha before she disappears. He gave up the idea since it was a path with an end. Jack decided to return to the main path, the one at the entrance to the village. Intact and with no news since they had passed through it. The only thing he noticed was that the door through which they had passed, no longer existed. And, crossing the bridge, it would lead to a dense forest. How had that happened? He preferred not to think and went back to zero. His only solution would be to follow the path to his left. Maybe there was something in that shady house.

 

**Oo~oO**

               Judy stopped in front of that single exit door from that hallway, stupidly, big. Putting her paw on the wall, she leaned forward a little trying to control her breathing. As soon as she was calmer, she opened the door. The darkness didn't receive her, and she thanked for it. But she was furious to see that she had entered another room and full of junk. Cupboards, tables, chairs, everything possible to make it difficult for her to get through. Closing the door and taking a deep breath, she deviated from that and moved on to a room where there would be stairs. Without delay, she climbed the junk. Upstairs there were three doors, a small corridor and a huge sliding door that would lead to the outside. Ignoring the doors on her left side, she went directly to the outside door. She needed fresh air. She ran the door to her side and the clear air welcomed her. However, she stopped by the parapet in front of her. Leaning a little, she studied where she had ended up. A small garden. Another staircase that would lead to the top floor and... More damned closes doors.

_"You!”_

Without any warning, Judy barely had time to even look behind her and see where that voice came from. The Axe's blade passed close to her ear, shattering the parapet on her right side.

_"It's because of you!”_

The voice continued to speak, while Judy ran down the hall and down the stairs. On the ground floor, she tried the first door, unsuccessfully. The second one didn't welcome her either and the third one was useless. The ax was touching the ground inches from her, trying in vain to touch her. The fourth door didn't smile at her either and the fifth door was shattered. A thread of blood was drawn near her shoulder. Acting quickly, she turned around and managed to climb the stairs again. Upstairs, the first two doors did not open, but the third smiled at her. Closing it, she looked for a place to hide. The bed wouldn't fit. The dresser was much less, and the closet was out of the question. That's when, she glimpsed through the corner of her eyes, a small door on of the corners of the room. Without delay, she knelt and elbowed the wood. It opened and she stuck herself inside, closing the door. On the other side, the bang of the ax hitting the wood. It was close. A tunnel was her escape. Although narrow, she lay down. And with her elbows and knees, she managed to escape, leading to a dead-end, although three wooden stakes in front of her were breakable. With her fist, she hit them, but they didn't give in. One more attempt. Without success. Angry, she tried to turn around and hit the stakes with her feet. They broke and, without seeing where it was going to happen, she fell.  
 **Oo~oO**

  
His senses were all over the place. His tiredness begged him to close his eyes a little. If he did, he might not open them again. So, he stayed awake or tried to stay awake. However, it was a difficult task and his eyes closed.  
  


_A huge room. It would look like a hall where the parties would be held. Comfortable was the atmosphere. Two sofas in each corner. The chandeliers illuminated the whole hall. Bookcases were part of the decoration and an oval table in the middle was there they discussed important things about the village. In one of the chairs, a majestic mammal. The years were already notorious in the expression of the gray wolf. His blue eyes showed fatigue. But even so, his paw was moving at an incredible speed. In front of him, scrolls were being filled in._

_"Almost there!”_

_He spoke in a long sigh, putting down the pen with which he was writing and leaning against the chair. His rest did not last long, as the large doors of the hall opened in force. From there came a small female wolf, no more than her fifteen years old, hurriedly stepping. Her expression was furious. Without delay, she reached the table and laid her paws on it, violently._

_"I already know that my destiny has been mapped out since the day you conceived me. However, father, there are four well-paid villagers in this village. Why that old man, who has nowhere to fall dead!?”_

_"We have already discussed this,” the wolf maintained his position: "He is the only one who has power like me. You need to understand!"_

_"Understand? You made plans even before you had children. Besides, I don't understand this tradition! You and your mother married for love. Why do I have to sacrifice myself?"_

_"We have already explained to you why. We need resources. Money is scarce and this marriage is the only solution"._

_"Solution to keep our bellies full where could have been other way out. But you chose the easy way out."_

_"Just like you, I don't like having to marry my daughter to that disgusting old mammal. But you to understand that it will be worse than having our belly full."_

_"I don't know your story with that mammal, and I don't want to know. But one thing I guarantee you, Father, if I marry that disgusting being, none of you will have any peace!" and with those words, she turned her back on her father and left the room._

_The wolf didn't take his eyes off her until he stopped seeing her. When the doors closed, he sighed again. If he didn't marry his daughter, they would all die._   
  


Nick opened his eyes. How long had he been asleep? He didn't know, but at least he had regained some strength to focus his vision and see in the dark. That dream was strange and confusing, but it didn't seem at all unknown. The feeling that he was already aware of such an event did not leave him. However, he did not remain there thinking about it. He would have to get up and find his way out. Despite the idea that he had to die to save everyone, it was beginning to become a reality. But before that happened, he wanted to see Judy one last time.

                                    

**_To be continued…_ **


	20. Cursed Eighteen

               Her eyes opened slowly. A little pain overwhelmed inside of her. The paw went to her forehead. Then she took the palm of the paw in front of her and held her lips firm. Blood. One more wound joining to the others. Sighing, she began by trying to recognize where she had fallen. She felt wet and the darkness would not let go. She touched the ground with her paw. Cement and water. Then she took the paw to the other extremities. The ceiling was small, and the walls were redundant. She recognized that she had gone to a conduit where the water passed.

_Now what?_

The darkness didn't let her see anything and not a glimmer of light was visible. She would have to walk on one side blindly and pray for not fall into something.

 

               The house was not large, and the door opened without any effort. The brightness of the moon caressed his fur. He had come to a garden. There was a small porch, at the end of which there was a door and then stairs. On his right side were two other doors, one of which had been torn apart by...something? What would have happened? His curiosity invaded him, and he decided to get a little closer to see it. Looking through the brakes of the broken door, nothing could be seen. Looking at the ground, a big cut. Crouching down, Nick passed a finger. When it touched in something not dry. Turning his finger at him, he noticed that his fur was stained with a red liquid. That alarmed him. Straightening up, he turned again from where he had come and hurried the steps. Not only there, but in various places, that kind of destruction had been done. He ran up the stairs, chased after the wreckage and suddenly stopped. Whispers filled the silence of the place. The understanding was unquestionable, but a sense of terror invaded Nick's instinct to run away as quickly as possible. What whispered those words, was beginning to appear on the door on his right. The creature was visibly terrifying. Part of where there were an eye and the snout had been completely pulled out, leaving a deep cavity. In his chest, nails shaped like a cross. His tail had been cut in half and on one of his paws a huge axe. An axe to cut wood. The blade dragged along as the creature floated.

_"Yae needs more...she needs blood...souls...meat..."_

Petrified with such a vision, he realized too late the approach of the creature. The axe sweated very close to him, making his brain react and get out of there. Another elevation of the axe and fell, bewilderingly on the ground, broke the wood without mercy. Nick's feet failed, slipping. The creature saw the opportunity and launched the Axee again. Quick with his movements, he strayed and stood up, ignoring the pain of his left wrist. Nick ran to the same room from which the creature had left. And, barely knew, that had been a huge mistake. ** _  
                                                  _ **

               Judy fell and the fall wasn't nice. Her back hit a stone floor, making her lungs beg for air. Tears filled her eyes, beginning to flow down her cheeks. When her lungs stabilized a little, she coughed. She tried to control her breathing and how to get up, but without success. Her legs gave way. Judy's ears picked up a distant whisper. Her violet eyes then watched with attention where she had fallen. Nothing more than a place where the walls and floor were made of stone. In front of her, a huge well. The distant whispers began to get closer. Judy was able to distinguish the voice. It was the voice of the same female she had found in the first house she had entered as soon as they ventured into the village.

"No..." the word came out of her lips in alarm.

She had nowhere to hide or run. There was no door or window. Only the well. She was lost. That creature would catch her. __  
  


               There was nothing. No hiding places. His chest filled and emptied with fury. Nick didn't want to die there. Not before seeing Judy one last time. The axe howled twice near him, making the fox deviate with difficulty from the onslaughts.

_"The camera!”_

The voice alerted him. The same voice that had spoken to him while he was on the bridge. Another onslaught and another detour. Then, Nick took the opportunity when the creature was trying to take the axe that had been stuck deep in the wall, to remove the suitcase from his back and remove the camera from there. However, he had to deviate again and drop the backpack, since the axe rubbed close to him one more time. Nick hit the wall on the other side of the room, fixed the camera and, as soon as he could he focus lens and fired. The creature was stunned but didn't disappear like the last time he had done it.

The same voice said,  _"Shoot again,"_  and Nick didn't think twice.

He fired and the creature retreated. The axe jumped off his paws, but he still didn't disappear. One, two, three, four. There was no way she was going to disappear. The only thing that no longer existed was the axe. Now, the creature advanced to him with his arms stretched out. That thing almost caught him, but Nick went faster and wandered off. His right shoulder hit the bed, and the camera slipped out through his paws.

"No!" he screamed in frustration.

_"Yae needs..."_

The creature roared and advanced on Nick at full speed. The thing managed to grab him by one of his legs, starting to drag him along. However, Nick was quick enough to grab the bedpost and keep himself safe. With the other foot clear, he hit the creature's arm hard. He also wondered how he and the creature could touch each other. The creature roared with anger. Nick wasn't making her job any easier, and if she didn't take that living thing to Yae, she'd end up having her consequences even after she died. A constant struggle and Nick emerged victoriously. Free, he ran to the camera and pointed it at the creature. And finally, it disappeared completely.

_"Always take the camera with you. It will be your salvation and Judy's!”_

Nick laughed. Not because of what the voice said, but because he thought it was simple to use that against those beings from another world. Apparently, it wasn't like that. __  
  


               She searched every nook and cranny. Her paws touched the walls and floor, looking for an exit. The sound was close, but there was no sign of the female. Her breathing was accelerated.

"There must be a way out!”

But there was no way out. No stone would be the key to opening a secret passage. Finally, the whispers were very close. Judy turned to the well, but her heart froze when she found herself with a few dull eyes, with a well-delayed, black iris. A frightening expression that would make anyone faint.

"You'll die!”

A smile.

A paw straight to the neck.

A struggle for air.

An insane laugh.

Tears flowing down her face.

She would die. She could not escape. Finally, she could close her eyes and rest for a while. Her brain asked for it. She asked for that suffocation to be surrendered forever since she was too wounded, and her body required so much rest that she could not have. When on her memory, came the image of the fox that she loved the most. The mammal that did not want to see die. He whom she wanted to be able to see one last time, to say her feelings and to be able to feel his lips on hers.

A flash. The creature shouted and Judy fell unprepared on the ground. She coughed and carried a paw around her neck relieving the pressure previously applied. The creature continued to scream.

_"I need her alive!”_

It was the only thing Judy heard. The voice she knew so well. The twin she wanted to save. Her body fell on the cold stones and before succumbing to her unconscious, she glimpsed the twin woman approaching.

**_It will now be my end. Forgive me, Nicholas!_ **

****

               After recovering, Nick decided to take the camera ready to fire. He put it wrapped around his neck and put the backpack back on his back.

_"The ritual is about to begin. Yae already has Natsuhiko."_

A simple creature, nailed in her whispers, passed through the door drawing the fox's attention. The words were a warning. Yae had gotten Judy. Without delay, he went to the door and, leaning over her, he noticed where the creature was going. As he ran away, he hadn't noticed that the corridor cut to a small one up to a door. Nick approached and turned the doorknob. The squeak of the door was a melody to his ears since it opened without difficulty. The moist air welcomed him. The thunder was heard above him, but no rain. He had gone to a courtyard that the fox knows very well.

 

**_To be continued…_ **


	21. Cursed Nineteen

         A closed fist hit the rotten wood in one of the houses. How long had he been driving around? Twice he returned to the beginning of the village, pondering that he had missed something. After a long time upstairs searching every nook and cranny, he decided to go back to the first house. However, the door still existed and did not open, but the window through which they had entered previous, had disappeared. He didn't even want to know why anymore. Angry, he also went back to where he had gone with Alisha. Without success. The path to his left, which was at the main intersection, went nowhere. Yes, there was a river, a bridge and a large stone staircase that led to a cemetery with no exit. Jack went there, searched for the statues, took a while to see the villagers' graves, but found nothing. His irritation reached its peak and, cursing his bad luck, he turned back, stopping at another intersection that would give two large houses, and a dirt track that cut to his left. A huge corroded steel gate welcomed him. He still pondered trying to open the door, but it required strength not from one mammal, but from three or four.

"This is too much.”

It was evident that the more Jack walked, the more he seemed to get lost in on an endless labyrinth. Besides, the rabbit noticed that things changed. When he passed by them, they are in one manner, but as he passed by them again, they are in another way.

 _Damn it!_  He shouted in thought and the closed fist went against the wood of the house he went to, but without success to enter.

"Jack?”

At the call of his name, he turned to where it was coming from. He approached the stone parapet and looked down. His eyes glowed when he saw the fox.

"Nick. Thank God you're alive!"

"Where is Alisha?" is what he questioned.

Jack's head bent and the smile, like the expression of happiness when he saw his friend, disappeared, giving way to deep sadness. Nick realized the rabbit's mood had changed. Judy was right. Something had really happened.

"It's a long story!” Jack spoke as he walked down the stairs, approaching the fox. "But to be brief, I'm sorry, Nick, but I couldn't save her!" and he opened his arms to the sides showing the blood already dry and dark on his shirt.

The silence fell on the place for a few moments. The tears didn't invade the fox's eyes, despite feeling great affection for Alisha. The feeling that should be of anguish is sadness, was consumed by anger. He had lost an important mammal for him and was about to lose another if he didn't hurry.

"Where's Judy?"

Breaking the silence, Jack looked back for signs of the rabbit but did not see her.

"It's another long story. However, we need to be quick. Judy could end up with the same fate as Alisha!"

Jack swallowed it dry. Nick's anger was visible in his emerald-green eyes and, looking at the detailed figure of the fox, the rabbit realized that he had already had a hard time.

"Maybe with your help we can open that gate!" and pointed to his right side. "What I'm about to tell you may be stupid, but we'll have to follow the crimson-dyed statues. It will take us to Judy!"

Nick did not ask him who would have warned him about such a thing. He knew in his mind that Natsuhiko had something to do with it.

"So, we didn't waste any more time."

Moving away from the rabbit, the fox went towards the gate. Jack followed him closely.

"At the same time. If we push him, maybe we can open him. A little is enough to get us through!"

Nick positioned himself on the left side and Jack on the right. With their paws and strength, they pushed the big doors. The gate squeaked a little. A little more force and they had a small passageway. If they turned sideways, they could get through.

 

               A nauseating smell made the poor rabbit wake up in shock, turn around and vomit. When her stomach calmed down, she petrified. Under her paws, something viscous and soft. A snap of fingers and the candles in every corner of the room accessed. She froze. She was lying on the bodies of all the villagers, overlapping each other. She wanted to escape. Her instinct was to get out of there as soon as possible, but when she tried to get up it was a mistake. A supernatural force made her fly against the wall. Her wrists were trapped by something invisible in the wall like her waist and feet. Judy struggled to loosen up but was not able. Suddenly, the atmosphere changed. There were no more bodies or blood, but a small amphitheater. The stone benches were filled by the villagers. In the middle, a large circle of the earth. In this circle, four wooden stakes. A white sacred ribbon was wrapped around the circle. A melody began to play. On the left side, four small mammals were lined up. On their little paws, a bell rang to the rhythm of the step and the melody. Behind the children, two priests whom Judy recognized. The same ones who dragged Yae up the stairs. Behind them was a female, dressed in priestess's clothes. In her eyes, a crimson-colored mask. On her paws the same bell that the children were wearing but adorned with two ribbons of the same color as the mask. The three mammals passed through Judy with vague steps. But at the same moment, the supernatural eyes of the priestess went against the rabbit and a smile reappeared on her lips. Judy recognized the creature. It was...Yae, and she was already possessed.

"No... you can't take her to the circle!"

Judy shouted. She knew, by instinct, that if Yae stepped on that circle of the earth, things would change. And....for the worse.

 

               The passage to the other side was nice. Nothing happened as they silently crossed the bridge. Both were lost in their thoughts and in their anguish. Under the stone bridge, the river flowed calmly as if nothing had happened. They took hurried steps to the other side. The trees were on both sides. A dirt road followed the small hill above, and a large fire gave visibility to a large house. They had barely gone out into the open air and had to venture into another house.

"Nick?" with a calm voice, Jack called him as they walked up the path. Nick didn't answer, letting his silence be the answer for the rabbit to continue. "Alisha died on the paws of a priestess. The melody was insane, but magnificent at the same time. The penetrating dance in an endless but deadly fascination for those who watched as for the dancing female," he paused a little and sighed. The horrendous images still afflicted his mind. "The female was already possessed when she entered the circle. No one noticed and the dance had begun. The white light in the starry sky on a summer's night gained red as the melody advanced. Attached to the tree, the strings didn't let me out." Nick continued to listen to the rabbit without opening his mouth. Deep down, he knew where the outcome of that story was going to end. "In the middle of the dance, I realized that it was Alisha in those priestess clothes. When I saw her, I tried at all costs to free myself from the tight cords that held my wrists to that wretched tree. But in vain. Suddenly, everything happened. The villagers were killed, the children succumbed to the curse, falling to the ground and the priestess died." Once again, the silence fell on them. Meanwhile, they had already reached the top of the hill. "I'm very sorry, Nick. I could not save her!”

"There's no point in materializing anymore, Jack!" Nick finally spoke, but he didn't face the rabbit. He went astray and went straight to the door, "We'll have Alisha's funeral later to give her soul rest. Right now, we have to save Judy and get out of this village!"

Nick might seem insensitive, but they couldn't waste any more time. The loss of Alisha, a childhood friend in whom he had deep feelings, hurt him, or he thought until Judy began to be made out of prey to these creatures. He couldn't bear to lose another loved one and wouldn't let Yae or anyone else take the life of his bunny. Jack no longer foresaw the matter and joined Nick. In front of the door, they didn't take long to open it and enter that house that looked like a castle. Once inside, the darkness received them in a bad mood.

 

               The melody continued to play. The bells began to sway with greater exquisite elegance. The priests withdrew, giving way to the priestess. Judy continued to struggle to break free. She had to stop the situation. Yae would kill them all and complete her curse. The wolf entered the circle, positioning herself facing the villagers. With both paws on the bell, she lifted him above her head. The melody stopped. The silence fell on the place. The moonlight bathed the bell and, in one movement, Yae rang it. The melody restarted and a fascinating dance began. Judy could be glimpsed with such elegance and perfection that the dance was performed, but she could not waste her time admiring a deadly dance. Taking a deep breath, she tried to release herself as she shouted loudly for Yae to stop it. Judy wanted to reach Yae saying that is a solution for breaking the cursed, that she could be saved, but her heart was already corroded by the curse, by hatred, and by revenge. So, she wouldn’t hear her. The dance continued. At first, they were slow and coordinated movements. However, as time went by, the steps became faster without losing their grace. The melody and the bells become fasters. Judy continued to struggle. Her wrists, waist, and feet were already aching from the effort. She had to stop and hurry. Yae could not complement the curse. If it did, there'd be no way Judy could save her and Nick would have his life stolen. No. She had to make it, she had to let go. The moonlight started to turn into a different color. The starry sky gained very thick, gray clouds. The rain began to fall without mercy. Many of the villagers saw it as a miracle, as months ago, drought prevailed in the village and was destroying the crops. However, other villagers began to realize that something was wrong. Some began to stand up calmly, but soon it became a rush. The once white moon turned red. The once transparent rain became blood. An immense shadow appeared behind Yae. The whispers and lamentations came together in a deafening and frightening sound. Without explanation, the villagers began to fall to the ground. Pools of blood filled the amphitheater and became a sea of blood. Judy, at that moment, had stopped struggling. Her attempts failed and the curse had been complete. There would be no more solution to save Yae. Natsuhiko was right. This was not how she would save Nick. And it would not be otherwise that the ritual would not take place. Everything fell. Judy died inside. Hopes had been dashed. She knew she had to continue the ritual if she wanted to get out of there alive and save Jack since Nick's fate had been traced. Sae would have to be returned and Nick would have to die.

 

               Jack was sitting on the floor with his left leg stretched out. Nick tried at all costs to put the bandage wrapped around the wound after he had disinfected. The pain was agonizing, and the tears were already flowing down his face.

"Try to keep quiet!”

Without losing his composure, the fox was working on a solution that wasn't working.

 The moment before, when they entered the house, the lantern was their salvation. The entrance of the house didn't have much to watch. So, they decided to take the small three steps in front of them. They ended up going to a dead end. The two doors on both sides were the solution. The one on the left remained closed without wanting to give signs to open, but the one on the right smiled at them. On the other side, some stairs that would lead to the upper floor. In front of, another corridor without a view of an end.

"We climbed?" suggested Jack. They'd have to start somewhere.

Twenty steps and they were already in the kind of small storage room. Old junk everywhere, several chandeliers scattered around and a chest.

"Nothing interesting," said Nick, turning his way back to the ground floor.

Jack still looked once shrouded and followed the fox. Only, at that moment, the ground gave way under his feet and Jack fall, unparalleled, on the ground. Nick ran to his.

"Damn it!”

Jack said in a tone of pain. Nick helped him lean against the wall. Then, he checked the damage. The result was a big tear in the leg from the knee to the ankle. At least, he hadn't broken the leg, but it would make his mobility more difficult.

"Done!" Nick packed his things back in the emergency kit and put the bag back on his back. "Can you get up?"

With his help, Jack tried, but the pain took over and he had to lie down again.

"Forget it!” Jack spoke in a disappointed sigh.

"There's no way I'm leaving you here. Let's try one more time," Nick replied and put himself back in position to help him, but Jack refused.

"I'll only slow you down! Go get Judy and I'll wait here."

"Are you crazy?" Nick raised his voice, "I won't leave you here to the mercy of those creatures!"

"You will waste precious time. Every minute counts and I don't see that you want to lose Judy too!"

 _True._  Nick thought

"But I don't want to lose you either."

"I'll be fine."

Nick closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then, he removed the camera from his neck and passed it to him.

"This will help to keep those creatures away. At any movement, look at the camera. It will focus on the creatures automatically and you just have to shoot. No matter how many times, don't stop shooting until the creature disappears."

Turning the camera on his paws, Jack smiled at Nick and nodded his head positively. Nick smiled back at him and, squeezing Jack's paw, continued his way.

 

**_An unbreakable curse. Desperate suffering. The ritual will have to be performed to give rest to the innocent. For this, a sacrifice will be necessary._ **

 

**_To be continued…_ **


	22. Cursed Twenty

The supernatural force was gone. Judy's back slid down the wall, slowly, letting her knees hit the floor.

"No..."

The word came out in a whisper. Anguish took hold of her. The glimmer of hope in her eyes had disappeared. Tears began to form. So, fate could not be changed. She would lose Nick and didn't know what else to do about it.

_"I warned you!”_

The voice was affectionate and showed sadness. The wolf gently took the paw to the rabbit's face.

"Don't touch me!" angry, Judy took the back of her paw to the wolf's arm, pushing him away.

Frustrated by the situation, Natsuhiko grabbed the rabbit's wrists and put them against the wall.

 _"You need to understand the situation around you. Yae cannot be saved and Nick will have to die!"_  With her eyebrows together, her violet eyes met the wolf's angry blacks.  _"Your rage will not help you complete your mission!”_

On Judy's lips, a smile reappears.

"You're so wrong if you think I'm going to kill Nick!"

 _"If you don't, you won't get out of here."_  The wolf sighed, but he didn't relieve the pressure on the rabbit's wrists.  _"The ritual needs to be performed."_

"I don't understand you. First, you said that if I worked hard, I could save him. Now you're saying he has to die?" then Judy realized. Now laughing, leaving the wolf confused, she said, with an angry expression: "I get it. Your intention was never to help me or neither of us.”

_"I don't understand you!”_

"From the beginning you planned everything. How stupid of me to think you would help!" now the tears flowed down her cheeks. Tears not of sadness, but of anger "Your intention was not to help me save Nick, but to lead him straight to his death.” The wolf remained silent and finally released the rabbit's wrists. "Amazing how things change overnight. Even more incredible is the fact that I believe in a hope that never existed." Judy got up and wiped her tears with the back of her paw.

 _"She needed help to free the innocent mammals of this village. The opportunity came to me and I couldn't miss it at all,"_  the words were sincere, but they only made Judy angry even more.

"You took advantage of us," she shouted. Once again, the silence was her answer. Taking a deep breath, she questioned him in a calm voice. "Why... us?”

 _"Your heart was broken just like Yae's"_  the wolf began to speak.  _"In love with a mammal who had feelings for another."_ a sigh  _"I saw Yae in you. However, your broken heart did not nourish evil, nor envy, nor jealousy, only sadness. Yae could never possess you even if she wanted to. Your determination and your purity would eliminate any darkness that approached. That is why I chose you. You would be the right choice to break the curse. The hope in me was rekindled. Finally, I could be free and rest in peace. The only thing I would have to do was help you on your way to the ritual."_ Judy didn't interrupt him. The wolf took a deep breath before speaking again.  _"However, things escaped its initial follow-up. Sae seized Nick because of the uncertainties in his heart. In love with Alisha, or so he thought, his feelings were changing or had already changed, but he didn't want to see them if you know what I mean. Sae loved and loves her sister just as she loves me. If she said her feelings for me, even though she had spoken to her sister earlier, in her perfect innocence, when she discovered that her sister also had the same feelings for me her heart was divided. Sae didn't know what to do like Nick,"_ Judy's paws closed tightly. By now, it was nothing new if Nick saw more on her than a simple friend and Judy had noticed that. But even so, although Natsuhiko's words were true, his intentions were different right from the start.  _"Of all of you, you were and are the only one with the right common sense. Think first before you act. Your decisions are not made with a cold head no matter how complicated things get. To be honest with you, I never thought Yae would interview."_ Natsuhiko approached the rabbit and put a paw on her shoulder, which she was with her back to him, with no intention of facing him.  _"At first, I thought you might be able to save Nick, but with the knowledge of the things you saw, I realized that there was no hope for him. I'm sorry!”_

"Even if I lose my own life, Nick will not die!"

At that moment, Natsuhiko made her face him.

_"Didn't you hear anything I said? Do you want me to draw what I said for you understand that you are the only one who survives this whole situation? Neither Jack nor Nick will be left here!"_

"What if I don't want to save your dear beloved?" Judy attacked him in another way.

"If you don't, you'll die too!"

"Good! So, the matter is resolved then!" she shrugged her shoulders and let go of the wolf, straying. She didn't take more than two steps before being grabbed by the arm and forced to face him again.

_"You can't do that to me. You can't die here. You'll have to save us!"_

"If you had been wise at first, tried to help Yae, you would be free as a bird at this point.”

Releasing once again, she turned her back to him. The fury reached the peak on the wolf. Without warning, he grabbed her by the arm and threw her hard against the wall. Judy squealed when her back hit the wall with violence. She lacked air. Natsuhiko didn’t let her have the opportunity to recover. He grabbed her again. But this time, by the neck. Judy took her paws to the wolf's paw, trying to get him to let her go. He, yes, let her go, but without first squeezing her neck and throwing her back against the wall one more time. This time, it was her right shoulder to complain about the pain. Judy's tears filled her eyes and took her left paw to the sore shoulder. Once again, she was lifted, but by the collar of her blouse.

_"You will kill Nick whether you like it or not!"_

And with such words, he disappeared, causing Judy to fall on her tail.

 

               The corridor seemed to have an end. After walking more than necessary, two doors smiled at him. Without delay, he reached the handles of the door and opened it. In front of him a small table with a small candle. On his right side, some kind of cell. Inside, a small cupboard with books, a partition and, on the other side, a small table with a candle. On the left side, three small steps lead to a stone floor. Two steps forward, the path also cut to its left side. From then on, he did not know. Nick pondered adventuring along that path first, but something caught his attention through the corner of his eye in the little "prison”. The little door opened easily, but Nick had to crouch to pass it. Several notebooks and old books were neatly stored on the shelf. His emerald green eyes watched each book and notebook with some attention. Instinctively, his finger passed through them as it moved forward. Almost at the end of one of the shelves and for no apparent reason, one of the books fell to the ground. His attention suddenly turned to there. Nothing surprised him anymore, so he just came over, crouched down and picked up the book.

 ** _‘Ritual’_**  was the title printed in black ink. Nick opened it. The first two pages were blank. The third only indicated the year and the day. The fourth one had the names of the twins. The fifth one had the name of the wolf and the remaining five were blank. Sighing and turning his eyes, he closed the book and put it on the shelf, looking first for where it had fallen from. As he deviated once more, with the intention of getting out of there and going in search of Judy, the book fell again, but this time on a written page. Coming back, he knelt, took the book and began to read.

"Not everyone can break the ritual. The gods ask for blood. We must calm their fury. An uncontrollable fury, driven by revenge, fear, suffering, and jealousy. This anger, imprisoned for so many years, but now liberated." Nick turned the page. "Poor Yae fell into all these temptations. Destroyed by her destiny, she requires the souls to proceed with the ritual." Nick noticed that it was a diary and not a book. "I could not stop such an event. The devil has always been imprisoned. Every year there was an animal sacrifice to establish the harmony of the village, but that thing demanded more and more. We didn't know what to do.” the page was turned. "The wise priest of the village explained to me that I would have to marry my firstborn to the oldest villager. Only then, that would calm down the demon..." the leaf was torn in half, so Nick couldn't decipher anything else. He changed the page. "Today Yae confronted me in the meeting room. I tried to stay calm, but seeing her suffering upset me. She was right to stay that way, but I didn't have a choice," Nick's memory goes to the dream he had previous. The one who wrote the diary was the same tired expression wolf he had seen in the hall. He was the father of the twins. "Today will be the lunar dance, were with it, Yae will be sacred by the bath of the full moon and given her blessing before the villagers of how she will be the next head of the village and who will accept the union with the old mammal. My broken heart gained a little light when Yae, smiling, came to me when I calmly explained to her why I decided to this marriage. If it was a sincere smile, no! If in her expression he could see the pain and discomfort, yes! However, I decided to be blind to such emotions and think that everything would be fine. Oh, but how wrong I was!"

Suddenly, the notebook begins to change color. What had been white, began to stain with a half-red color. Dropping the book of his paws, a gentle ring of a bell turned him to where the sound came from. He recognized the white kimono with a crimson ribbon attached to a bow on the wrist. The pale eyes without color hid an empty expression without emotions. It wasn't Sae who was there, Nick knew it. That was the twin. On both sides of the wolf, two priests. Their paws were holding her arms. They pulled her through that little path that Nick hadn't seen before. His heart was beating at an abnormal rate. He knew he had to reach her and stop them from going. His instinct told him to run and get her out of those priests. If he didn't it, Nick knew that would be the end of her and him.

 

**_Forgive me, Yae. Forgive me for not having seen how much you suffered before! I'll make things right. You'll be free just like all of us._ **

 

**_To be continued…_ **


	23. Cursed Twenty One

Devastated, her feet crawled. She had managed to get out of that cubicle giving way to the main road of the village. The house from which she will leave stood in front of a huge stone wall. Next to It, were stairs. She went down them and found a gate already half-open. She didn't think much and decided to go that way. On the other side, the river smiled at her. The bridge invited her to pass by and the thunders burst firmly over her. In a long sigh, she did the honors to the bridge. Judy knew she should hurry up and look for Jack, Alisha, and Nick, but her instinct and discouragement told her to go slowly. Appreciate a little the calm around her and try to calm her spirit. However, that tranquility was interrupted. Judy felt a chill. Instinctively, she looked in the direction of her left side but saw nothing. Then, murmurs, horrible laments, in a terrifying echo, made her violet eyes look forward. It was Yae, but there was something different about her. The familiar and even a little comfortable feeling began to change into a terrible sense of fear. Her body refused to take another step and then remained motionless, looking at the wolf.

“What?" She wondered why her body didn't obey her. Once again, she tried to move, but couldn’t.

 _"Natsuhiko/Judy"_   ** _(NA names were said at the same time. One in Yae's voice and the other in the voice of the terrible creature who possessed her)_**  Judy raised her head and, as soon as she did, her heart petrified. That was not the wolf.

_"The ritual. Sae is already at the ritual!"_

Everything fell on the poor rabbit. From her lips, the word _'no'_ came out repeatedly. Her head was shaking the same measure that the word was preferred. Tears formed quickly in her eyes and her brain told her to run as fast as possible. Just as she turned to the rabbit, she turned again to the path in front of her, beginning her walk for once. Judy struggled with all her strength to make her body move. The creature was already a long way away.

"Free me!”

In frustration, she screamed at the creature. Tears were already running down her cheeks.  _I must free myself. I have to get there before Yae._ She kept repeating it in her mind. But whatever it was holding her, it had no intention of letting her go.

 

               Nick came out of the little 'prison' almost running. The attempt to reach Sae was in vain. Since, as soon as she turned to the corridor, she disappeared. However, a small runner cut further ahead. The darkness smiled at him. Nick removed the flashlight he had put in the pocket behind his pants and lit it. He went down three small steps in front of him and twisted his nose when he came across the water. With the other paw free, he leaned on the wall on his right side. Despite the flashlight, the light wasn't enough, and his night vision didn't help much either. A few steps forward, he reached the intersection. Pointing the flashlight in all directions, he noticed that there was no door, but a passage to a place totally different from any other around the village. After crossing another small corridor, he stopped when he reached the other part. There, two large old candlesticks with provided some light. With slow steps, he advanced a little further. Nick realized that he was underground in the village. The floor was concrete just like the walls.

_"Nick!”_

The echo of his name came from a cavity far from where he was.

"This way!”

The voice was from Sae, the twin dragged over there. Nick decided to follow her. The feeling that things were not going to go well invaded him. But still, he didn't hesitate and continued his way.

"Nicholas!”

Now the voice was different. The voice that stopped him suddenly, looking for where she came from. It was then that, in front of him, candles piled up in a circle. The small circle was made of the white ribbons he had seen at the entrance to the village, next to the clearing. In the center of this circle, the image of Judy. He began to run towards the circle, shouting his name, but suddenly stopped when he saw that the rabbit in front of him was just a mirage. It was when he realized where she was. It was the same bridge where he had passed a few moments before. However, what saddened him most was the expression of hurt and the tears that ran down her face.

"Judy..." he whispered.

 

               What seemed like hours, didn't take more than a few simple minutes of suffering. As soon as the creature began to climb the hill, the supernatural force holding the rabbit, wear off. Due to the strength, she was doing, she became unbalanced and fell to her knees on the ground. She didn't take long to get up and start running. From her mouth, she shouted for Yae, told her to stop. Not to perform the ritual. All useless words, she knew it. The creature seemed to move faster, but Judy ran everything she had and stretched an arm to try to reach her. Only when she did, she regretted it.  
  
  


There was no solution. They all knew that. Ten priests in a circle by a well. A very deep cavity, where deafening noises interspersed with each other. Screams, lamentations, requests for help. It was like hell. The golden stems of the priests beat on a melody well known to the rabbit. The same one she had heard on the stairs. The same one that made her shrink, hide and put her paws in her ears to ward off that torment. But in there, the melody did not cause those such feelings. Yae, together with the dark shadow, advanced in large steps to the great hole. She stopped, as soon as she reached him. The melody and the voices ceased. The silence fell on them.

"Sae!”

Judy looked to her right. Near the concrete door, Sae would descend the stone steps toward her sister. The wolf's features were expressionless. Her paws in front and head down, indicated that Sae had succumbed to her destiny.

 "No...No...SAE!" Judy shouted.

Her body moved. She tried to reach the twin, preventing her from going to her sister. When Judy interrupted the journey, her eyes opened in shock. It wasn't Sae in front of her. And, yes, Nick. The glow in his eyes had disappeared, his expression had given way to the void.

"Nick, please wake up!” With her paws on both the fox's forearms, Judy shook him. He had to come to his senses. "It's Judy, Nick. I was able to reach you. NICHOLAS!" And she shouted again but in vain.

She felt herself being pulled. The fall was big, and her tail went down to the ground far away. A squeak of pain came out of her lips. However, she ignored the pain and returned to reach the fox, but the creature's patience disappeared, and that was when Judy was thrown again, her back stroked the wall with force and she fainted.

 

               Still lost in the mirage in front of him, he only returned to reality when he felt a paw on one of his shoulders. Turning his face to the side, he went against the twin. Sae.

_"I'm sorry for everything you and your friends are going through. I didn't have time to save my sister, but I can do it now!"_

Nick sighed and, looking one last time at the image of Judy, stood up.

"I understand!”

He took the backpack off his back and left it there. He wouldn't need it for what he had to do. The only regret he had, was that he couldn't tell Judy his feelings and see her one last time.

 

               Two paws on the big door. Leaning body. Her chest filled and emptied ferociously. She had run like a madwoman. After the vision, when Judy opened her eyes she was on the hill. As she straightened, she groaned in pain. Her back was throbbing, and tears invaded her eyes.  _Damn it!_ She grumbled mentally and straightened out. Then, ignoring the pain, she ran up the hill without stopping. She only did so when she found the support at the door. She would lose him. He would die. Sae would surrender and Natsuhiko would not help. Everything had fallen.

_"Be proud of who you are. Get on with your life. And I thank you for your sacrifice.”_

The wolf passed through her, going through the door. Judy's eyebrows came together in an angry expression. It was nothing lost yet. She was going to figure out how to save Nick. Although she sent such positive words to her brain in order not to die anymore inside, Judy had no idea how to end it. Taking a deep breath, she stuck the big doors with all her strength. She still has a chance. And she entered.

 

**_To be continued…_ **

 


	24. Cursed Twenty Two

Blood. Clothes, as shattered as scattered, and the camera. Curious and confused at the same time, Judy crouched down and took the camera. She turned it over in her paws and carried the lens to her eye. When she did, the vision took over.

 

               Jack, sitting on the floor, murmured something. His leg had been bandaged and the blood-filled the floor underneath the bandage.

_What would have happened?_

It was the question that filled her mind. In which, the answer didn't take long to be given. Pieces of wood next to the rabbit, made her eyes look where it had come from. And it didn't take her long to realize that the ceiling above her had a big hole.

"I hope Nick will save Judy!" he vented into the void, sighing deeply.

 _Nick?_  Nick had gone after her.  _Oh, no, no, no, no!_  That explains the previous vision. He was already with Yae. She had made it so far.

Her paws trembled; her eyes opened in shock.  _Was she late?_  After all, the vision was the present. Not the future, not even the past.

A scream caught her attention again. Jack now had the camera in front of him. Flash after flash was fired. Whatever was tormenting him, he couldn't see himself on the naked eye. Not even Judy could see him. The only thing she realized, was the frustration stamped on her friend's expression. She knew Nick had told him how the camera worked, but no matter how many flashes were fired and no matter how many photos came out of the camera, whatever tormented him, that didn't seem to want to disappear; and that hadn't happened the first time. Since just one flash was enough to keep the creature away from the time Nick had saved her. Now, there, Jack was desperate and what was to be expected. The camera fell off her paws. He was lifted by the neck. What grabbed him, had no intention of letting go, until Jack lost all his breath. He had succumbed to the shortness of breath in his lungs until he stayed still.

_No!_

The tears came in force. Judy removed the camera from her eyes, letting it stay on her slippery paw. The other free paw went towards her mouth, covering it. She had lost Jack. Her childhood friends. And something told him that Alisha had had the same fate. What Natsuhiko said was true. She had no way of saving Nick.

 

               Returning to the dimension where she was, Judy began to move. Her spirit seemed to have left her body. Her empty gaze ignored the blood that accompanied her. The blood of her friend. Her legs moved with effort, as her mind prevented her from advancing into the ritual. But Judy ignored it. Her heart was broken. She would go to the ritual and end everything. She had already had her share of suffering and would die completely when she lost Nick.

 _"If you lose him,"_  the voice said.

"I will kill him!" the words came out of Judy's lips without thinking.

_"You can save him!"_

"Tell me how!"

_"Love is stronger than darkness. Yae will eventually be liberated and your light will be the answer to the end of the demon that possesses her."_

"Is it worth having hope?" Judy asked in a sigh. In the meantime, she had reached a door already open in front of her.

_"Nick awaits you in the deepest chamber of the village. I will try to delay the ritual, but I ask you to hurry up."_

"Can I trust you, Sae? Natsuhiko betrayed me."

 _"Follow your heart. Follow your feelings. Your instincts will tell you what to do. You just need to focus on the mammal you love. The obscure camera will be your salvation"_  and as it appeared it disappeared.

The blood was the path that Judy followed, indicating the way. After passing through the door, she crossed to her left. She took four steps and crossed paths again. The water caressed her feet. The paw met the wall. The flashlight that she was carrying, was turned on. The underground passage was not very long, giving way to a door that was already open. The concrete steps smiled at her feet. Judy came down and found them with.... nothing. Cement was the decoration of the whole place. A large cave with two candles was the only light. Not wasting time with the admiration, she continued on her way until she gave it to a small tunnel on the other side. Candlelight piled up, next to a circle of the earth, wrapped in a single white ribbon. In the middle, nothing! Suddenly, murmurs and whispers. Violet's eyes searched in various directions. Her heart began to beat faster, for no reason. The distant whispers began to get closer and closer, and it was then that Judy recognized where they were from.

_"Death. Blood. Suffering. Flesh. We want everything!”_

They were the words whispered in distant hoarseness is unsound. The rabbit's body moved everywhere, trying to see where that noise came from. But she didn't have time to react. A brutal force pushed her. Judy fell sideways to the ground, close to the circle. The camera on her paw went to the other corner of the place.

_"He's mine. I need the souls, the blood and the skin."_

With an elbow on the floor and a bent arm, it was the support for her to rotate her chest and head, looking at every nook and cranny of the place. But there was nothing there. Then she got up. The pain consumed her and made her fur shiver. Without delay, she ran towards the chamber to be thrown once again against one of the cement pillars. She coughed. A thin red line filled the corner of her left lip.

 _"Sae will be mine!”_  The voice said, interspersed with the dying murmurs.  _"I need... **more**!"_

One more effort and Judy straightened up and hurried to the camera. The force applied this time, was enough to push her against the circle of candles piled up. The beat made her grunt, but the candles comforted the greatest impact. Luckily, she had gotten the camera. Quickly, she took the viewfinder of the camera. The creature was horrendous and terribly scary. Instead of the face, a mouth without tongue and the teeth were a simple black hole like her eyes. The claws on her paws, were absurdly large, such as her nails, which if stabbed, would cross a mammal from one side to the other. Two strings, attached to the non-existent of the long white kimono, passed over her shoulders. Behind her, the same black shadow that Yae carried with her. The only difference was the existence of several faces such as that of the creature that screamed louder and louder. A dry swallow. Her legs trembled. That creature intimidated her, and if she touched it, nothing good would come out of it.

_"Save Sae!"_

These were the only words after Yae disappeared giving way again to the horrendous creature, lost in her lamentations and following her path to the ritual.

Her knees gave way to the ground. Judy was forced to carry her paws to her chest, asking her lungs to recover the shock ** _. A pain_**. This pain was agonizing. Her right arm began to throb and burn. Tears flowed down her face. Judy took the other free paw to her shoulder and closed her right fist to, in an insignificant attempt, try to compress the pain. No effect. It looked like several knives were sticking themselves in.

Nick ran to her, kneeling in front of her. He took his paws to her arm and was petrified when he took her sleeve away from her shirt. Large lines of various shades were taking shape along the forearm. What at first was not understood, began to look like a serpent.

"It burns!”

Judy closed her eyes tightly. Her chest filled and emptied violently. Never in her life had she felt such torment. What seemed like an eternity, was just a few minutes. All the lines had filled her forearm, reaching the middle of her neck. The drawing had been completed. The lines had taken shape in a brilliant serpent of shades of blue and red.

"Judy!”

He foreshadowed her name tenderly. The rabbit's wet violet eyes met Nick's emerald greens. Without wasting any more time, Judy threw herself around the fox's neck and cried. She cried over the pain of her arm; the anguish of lost hope; the loss of her friends and the relief that Nick was real and there in front of her. Nick hugged her tightly, not believing he was touching her. He had indeed decided to embrace his destiny, but when he heard the voice of the female he loved most, he ran the tunnel through which he walked to his death and managed to reach her. He managed to hug her and to see her one last time before surrendering to his destiny.

 

**_To be continued…_ **


	25. Cursed Twenty Three

_"You can't save him!"_

Two voices intertwined in each other. Judy recognized them. Yae and Natsuhiko.

"The ritual must continue!" This time it was Nick's voice. Releasing from the rabbit, he carried his thumbs under her eyes, wiping her tears.

"We have to find a solution and.....

 _"There is no solution!"_ Sae and Nick interspersed their words.

Her ears burst out and her violet eyes opened in shock.

"Nick..." one of her paws grabbed his shirt tightly.

On the fox's lips, a sincere smile and....farewell.

"There is no salvation possible. Thank you for everything," and he got up.

_"No..."_

The word came out in a whisper. Her paw stayed suspended in the air after Nick began to move away. Her legs trembled and her brain seemed to not want to react. The shock. The disappointment. The sadness and... the fear!  ** _No... no... no..._**  Judy gained strength and got up, starting to run to reach him. But when she almost made it, the darkness of the tunnel in front of her swallowed Nick. Judy didn't stop running, also entering the darkness. She saw nothing. She ran in the void. She tripped and fell. The pain in her knee made her tear, but she got up quickly and continued running. The tunnel was big and, what seemed like hours, it didn't take more than a few minutes. A false foot and she fell on her stomach. The steps were forgotten, and the fall provided some more injuries to join the others.

_Damn!_

Grumbling to herself, her elbows supported her high trunk. Her eyes met the fox in front of her who walked in vague steps to a... Was that a hole? She tried to overcome the pain of her exhausted body. But when she did, her legs gave way. Nick stopped with his back to her. However, on both sides, four priests appeared. The same priests that she saw on the stairs. The golden sticks on her paws began to ring on the floor, causing the bell ring at was on the top of the stick at a rhythmic sound. At that moment, Nick turned to face Judy. It was at, that moment, she saw Sae with him by his side.

 _"Judy_!" she and he spoke of uni-sound.

The  _tlim tlim_  of the sticks began to be accompanied by the thick and husky voices of the priests. A melody began to take shape. The melody that hurt Judy's eardrums. The same melody she hears on the stairs when Yae was pulled without mercy. The damn melody that was always played at the wrong time.

 _"Yae was possessed because of her weak heart_!" Sae and Nick spoke together. The rabbit's eyes fixed on both. She had tried again to get up, but the pain stopped her.

_"I'm sorry I was so blind from the beginning not to see what was in front of my eyes!"_

"Nick has nothing to do with this!" Judy screamed, hitting, in frustration, with her fist closed on the ground.

_"Of all those who ventured into the village, you were the only ones we could count on!"_

"But you didn't spare Alisha or Jack!"

_"Yae needed fresh blood."_

_Gods. Even Sae was consumed!_  Judy's eyebrows came together.

_"Although Natsuhiko's intentions were good at first, he then noticed that you would be the solution to this outcome.”_

"Not only your boyfriend but you too. Your intention was not to help us. Oh, how naive I was to think that you were the only sane one. But apparently, you're nothing but the same as your sister!"

**_"SHUT UP!”_ **

At that moment, Judy was able to deviate from something sharp that went against the concrete wall behind her. With fast breathing, she looked at the object. The dagger Nick always had with him. Something she had even forgotten and that never needed to be used. Her eyes met the emerald green of the fox and she noticed a different smile from all the others he showed. There was a different intention there. Also, in his eyes, Judy noticed that they were not the same loving eyes to which she was accustomed. Sae had consumed Nick's broken soul. It was she who commanded him, for the same features and demonic smile were stamped on the wolf next to him. The melody began to speed up the rhythm a bit like the beating of the bats on the ground. Behind Sae and Nick, the hideous creature that Judy had come across before. With her, Yae. Her insane laughter joined in with the whispers and the melody, turning all that sound into a hell of a noise. Judy's heart began to beat fast. She felt afraid. Alone, she didn't have Nick's support. They would kill him, but they wouldn't spare her either. And, her body was relentless in wanting to get up, no matter how much adrenaline began to be produced inside her.

_"I warned you!”_

Now, Natsuhiko was in front of her. On both his paws, the lifeless bodies of Alisha and Jack. The blood trail shocked Judy.

"Natsu...what are you going to...do...” her voice trembled like her whole body.

_"The three of them ended the ritual. There is nothing more you can do!”_

And he threw the bodies of her friends. He threw them into the hole, into the infernal abyss, where voices whispered and begged. The voices of all the villagers killed by the twins.

Terror. A terror that she never thought she would feel in her whole life.

**_"We can't be together forever!"_ **

Now, her attention has deviated to Nick. Tears flowed down his face. The sinister smile disappeared, giving way to a sincere and sad one. And Judy knew what would happen next.

It looked like a scene from a horror movie. The dagger, that was stuck to the wall, fell to the ground, but soon it rose. The blade was pointed towards Nick's chest. With her arm and paw stretched out, Sae smiled even more as her fingers retracted, giving orders for the dagger to advance in that direction.

Where she got her strength from, Judy didn't know. The only thing she was sure of, was that the dagger would not go towards the fox's chest, but straight to her paws, which enveloped the fist, and with all their strength, she prevented that thing from advancing. Sae made an angry expression, and again made the same gesture of her fingers. The dagger trembled at the rabbit's paw but did not come out of there.

_"Damn you!"_

Giving up, Sae let the dagger lose its strength and Judy let it fall to the ground.

_"Say goodbye to the one you love the most!”_

And placing herself behind Nick, she pulled him with her, into the abyss.

 

**_To be Continued…_ **


	26. Cursed Twenty Four

How did she do it? She doesn’t know. Her legs moved faster than usual. Lying on her stomach on the floor, her two paws grab one of Nick's arms, preventing the fall that would lead to his death.

"Judy!”

He said, amazed, seems to have woken up from a trance and not knowing what to do.

"Come on, Nick! Help me!"

Judy begged between a quick breath. Nick's weight was too much for her, and his arm and leg were already starting to slip off her paws.

"Let go of me! You won't make it," he said, while in his mind, he was trying to find something to hold on to, in order to carry a little weight. But there was nothing.

Judy's tears began to form in her eyes. The force required, hurt every inch of her body. The weight was unbearable and the stone underneath her, somehow, provided the support to hold the beaks of her feet and avoid slipping them into the abyss as well. But it wouldn't be for long.

"You won't make it!”

"Shut up! No way I'm going to drop you. Either you help me or we'll both fall!" she screamed between her teeth.

 _"Drop him_!" the creature's voice grunted loud and strong.  _"He's mine!"_

And she advanced to Judy. The creature pushed her violently to the side, making her release Nick and roll over to the wall of that place. A paw went to meet the ground support. She coughed and tried to get up. But finally, her body did not obey her. She was exhausted and there were no more forces left to get up. Besides, the push made her let go, Nick.

"NO!!!" and she cried.

With her fist closed, she hit the ground. She had lost Nick forever. Her heart broke into a thousand pieces.

However, inside the abyss, Nick had managed to cling to the earth wall with his claws. His feet, miraculously, found a stone outside the place that supported him. Ignoring what was going on under his feet, he asked all his strength and began to climb the wall. From where he was, it was not long before he reached the top.

 _"An impertinent rabbit. Always getting in where she's not called_!"

Nick heard the creature's voice say. If he didn't hurry, it would be Judy dying. He had to climb. He had to make it.  
  


               Judy didn't move. Her spirit had died with Nick. The creature stood in front of the rabbit. Without delay, she advanced. The pain was terrible when the creature's paws grabbed her by the neck. Her right arm throbbed. The serpent in her skin began to shine. The air began to run out, but Judy just closed her eyes and waited for death to come to her. She wouldn't fight anymore. She was fed up and Sae had also deceived her, giving false hope, and turning against her, taking Nick with her. The ritual was over. Everything was going to be okay. Would it... _wait?_  If Nick fell into the abyss, the creature was supposed to be gone and everything would be back to normal, right? But the creature was still there, grabbing her by the neck. The melody wasn't over, and the priests continued to sing it and beat their sticks. Something was wrong. She opened one of her eyes, the air was beginning to run out, but through the corner of her eye, she glimpsed something that made her hope gain willpower again. Two paws appeared on the floor of the abyss.  _Nick!_  He had succeeded. Without any delay, Judy took both paws to the creature's arm. When she touched her with her right paw, the creature grunted, and that caused her to move away and release the rabbit. Judy fell to the ground, coughing to catch her breath. Then she saw the serpent shine on her arm. Whatever it was, it would help at that moment. Furious, the creature advanced once more to her and Judy stretched her arm again to touch her. She grunted again, carrying her deformed paws to her horrible face.

However, Nick had managed to get out of the abyss completely. With his paws and knees on the ground, he tried to recover his accelerated breathing. He had managed to survive. Then, raising his head, he saw Judy leaning against the wall with the creature in front of her. She grunted with pain.

He got up and started running towards the rabbit. When Judy realized it, she stopped him.

"We need the obscure camera!" she shouted.

"We don't have time for this," he shouted back.

"Without it, we don't complete the ritual.

_Damn it!_

"Where's the damn camera?" Nick looked everywhere with his eyes and didn't see the damn camera anywhere.

"On the other side of the tunnel."

"What?! No way..."

"Do as I say and NOW!"

It wouldn't be worth arguing with her. Although reluctant to leave her there alone, if the camera was the solution as her partner said, then he really had to go get it. Nick ran into the tunnel, crossed the darkness and searched for the camera. It didn't take him long to find it and he ran to grab it, but unfortunately, luck didn't smile at him, and he was raised very high, falling to the ground and rolling until his back hit the cold wall.

 

               Judy was still struggling with the creature. Although the serpent was helping her, she had to deviate from two great claws in her direction.

_"You're going to die!”_

The angry voice said. Once again, she advanced to Judy and, one more time, she stretched her paw to touch the creature and she strayed. She would be able to keep that thing away for a while as Nick recovered the camera, but her arm was already throbbing with pain.

_Damn it, Nick! Hurry up!_

Nick coughed and grunted from the pain that filled his body when he tried to straighten up and get up.

 _"I said I needed you!"_  Sae was in front of him. Glorious as an angry goddess.  _"Why didn't you give in?"_

"I gave in," he replied sincerely. Meanwhile, he searched the camera with his eyes. The distance had gotten longer, and he had to distract Sae so he could grab the machine. "But there is a female that I want to protect" and with a mocking smile, he strayed and ran to the camera.

He managed to grab it and wasted no time in putting it in his vision and shooting. Sae trembled and screamed but did not disappear soon. She advanced to him, but Nick stood firm and fired again. She squealed and carried her paws to her face. One, two and three and Sae disappeared at last. Nick breathed a sigh of relief and ran back to Judy.

 

**_To be continued…_ **


	27. Cursed Twenty Five

"Judy!" Nick called her in a panting breath. On his paws, the camera. "Judy?" he called her again and couldn't see where the bunny was.

"Here."

In a dark corner of that place, Judy had her back pressed against the wall. Her chest filled and emptied with violence. The creature, in front of her, had her paws on her face again.

"Hurry," she said.

"Hey!”

Nick caught the creature's attention. Turning around, the creature began to walk towards the fox.

"That's right. Come and get me!”

A victorious smile reappeared on his lips as the camera was positioned to shoot. The focus was not long in coming and Nick did the honors. The first flash pushed the creature away, but soon she regained consciousness. Another flash and she grunted. Another one and the creature staggered. Meanwhile, with her back still stuck in the wall, with each flash fired at the creature, Judy cried out in pain. The serpent in her arm seemed to suffer from the creature. In addition, the tattoo began to take on more forms. This time in flowers, which filled her entire wrist, delighting between her fingers. Tears were held in her eyes. It was horrible. Another flash and a scream made the annoying melody quiet and the priests stopped the  _tlim tlim_ of the sticks hitting the ground. The silence fell for a moment.

**_"I am going to kill you both!”_ **

And another vain onslaught and a flash fired. The creature grunted loud and strong. Her paws went to her head in a shook in despair.

"Don't think you are free from this cursed" and she finally disappeared.

The priests disappeared. The whispers of the abyss gave way. The pain in Judy's arm stopped, now leaving an almost complete tattoo.  _Or so she thought_. Suddenly, crimson butterflies began to come out of the abyss. Nick dropped the camera on the ground and watched them fly through a hole to the surface. It was a wonderful view. With the butterflies, a sound. A soft and happy melody, with no terror behind it. Judy, on the other hand, still controlled her breathing. Her body was already very exhausted, making her vision a little blurred, but she couldn't help but smile, when she heard and saw those wonderful butterflies.

"Magnificent" the words escaped from her lips.

"Judy!” Nick called her and began to walk toward her. He knelt in front of her when he reached her. "Are you all right?”

"Sort of." And she laughed a little.

"I'm sorry," he said softly.

"You don't have to apologize, Slick. You're alive and that's all that matters."

"But Alisha and Jack... they..." his words were interrupted when Judy's arms wrapped around his neck in a tight hug.

"We will always have them in our hearts. I believe Jack and Alisha are together now and happy." Nick remained silent and returned the hug.

 

               At that moment, two little butterflies began to fly over their heads. They break the hug and watched those little creatures in confusion. The butterflies fly from side to side. Seconds later, they began to move forward on a kind of an indication to follow them.

"Will they show us the way to the surface?" wondered Judy, but a shrug of shoulders as an answer from the fox. Then, she noticed that Nick turned his back on her and stretched his paws backward.

"You suffered a lot. I'll help you."

Affirming with her head, Judy welcomed the fox's back warmly. Both followed the butterflies.

 

               The village seemed to breathe clean air. The grey clouds and the thunder had given way to a clear, orange sky on the horizon. The sun was rising. At the main entrance to the village, the butterflies said goodbye and Judy took her paws to her snout when she recognized the voices. Tears fell and she cried. Nick kept a sad expression but did not cry. Although they had lost their lives, Alisha and Jack thanked them for saving their souls. Those butterflies were their freedom.

"It's time".

Nick claimed and took the rabbit's paw. She nodded a  _yes_  with her head and the two of them finally left the village.

 

**_The end._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everybody! Sayra here. 
> 
> First of all, I want to thank you for the comments, kudos and bookmarked of this story. I never thought I would have a good reaction. Ehehehe 
> 
> Second, as you may have noticed (and please do not hate me) there was no kiss between them and the relationship was not developed, but this has an explanation. I don't intend to end the story here, where it will be continued in a sequel. Then, I will develop more the relationship, the insecurities, more terror and kisses ehehehe
> 
> I will add an epilogue, where you will give a brief beginning to the sequel I intend to write.
> 
> I'll also focus on my other story that is still in progress: "The Legendary Pirate Nicholas Wilde" as I'm going to write this sequel at the same time.
> 
> Well, I hope you enjoyed it. Look at my other creations about our heroes.
> 
>  
> 
> See you soon. 


	28. Epilogue

How many times had she hit her fist on the table? The frustration was immense. She had been sitting there for hours in front of a small table where a buffalo was watching her.

"How many more times do I have to repeat myself?”

"As many times as necessary. Until you tell us the truth, you won't leave here!" The voice was thick, and it could already see the lack of patience in his tone.

"I've already told the truth. What else do you want me to do?"

"Proof, Mrs. Hopps. The only thing we have are two lifeless bodies.”

That creature had won. She had said that they would find her. But where, when and how had the dead bodies of Jack and Alisha got to the police's paws? She had seen with her own eyes Natsuhiko throw them into the abyss and they became butterflies!

"Neither I nor Nick killed them. Who do you think we are?"

"Do you want me to be honest with you?" Bogo sighed before he spoke. "In my opinion, you two are murderers with no evidence to contradict."

What proof would she give that buffalo? She didn't have them. And the camera had been left behind, like an object no more important.

"I won't invent something that isn't true."

"Do you know that it can take up to 40 years in prison for killing two mammals? Oh, no, better, what do you think of life imprisonment, huh?"

Judy controlled the tears of anger in her eyes. She couldn't prove anything. Not even her bandages were proof enough to show him that she had nothing to do with her friends' deaths.

"You know the place." Judy tried to take some advantage to herself, indicating that the police and the justice department knew about the place. Also, Jack had asked the police for the keys directly, or had he lied?

"Don't turn the matter around. To answer your question:  _yes_ , we know the place. But Mrs. Hopps forgot that whoever entered the place was never seen again. You both are the first ones to enter and leave the place alive. Or at least two of you."

It wasn't going to be easy to pressurize that Buffalo. The department was to forget and, damn television, that it had to have the information about what happened. At least Judy can breathe a sigh of relief that her name and Nicks were not on the news.

"Why don't you send a rescue team there and collect evidence?"

"It is not for me to do such an act. It is up to the justice department. If they authorize it, I will send my best policemammal to investigate that place. After all, what was previously forgotten, has gained popularity due to the media." Bogo took a glass of water to his mouth, where he drank a little: "Until further notice, you were in custody. At the request of the judge, the two of you were not in prison, but in a correctional facility, and reconsider yourself luckily. All your steps will be watched and the wonderful bracelets on your ankles will warn us if you abuse your little and brief freedom."

With this, Bogo got up and came out of that cold and boring cubicle together with two policemammal. Judy's fists hit the table hard, making the cuffs hurt her wrists. She and Nick couldn't get stuck for an act they hadn't committed. Judy would have to force them to go to the village and have proof. Since her freedom and that of the fox was lost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, as you can see, this epilogue is a small addition to "The Cursed Village". Its sequel will have some stories about the village, but it will be a story in a different environment, with a different camera as well. However, the ghosts will be similar to the previous story.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this sequel as well.


End file.
